Echigo Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art, MonET

Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale used to be held once in every three years under the theme of nature and people coexisting. The heart of the art festival is in Tokamachi City - the Echigo Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art, MonET.

The architecture with a semi-outdoor concrete hallway and glass windows is the work of Hiroshi Hara. The water basin surrounded by the buildings was designed by Leandro Erlich, which reflects the architecture and the sky to create a curious effect. There is a spot in the museum’s hallway on the 2nd floor where you can see the reflection of the building and the building depicted on the water basin match exactly. Try and see if you can find it.

In the museum, Kohei Nawa’s work is on the permanent exhibition. Check out occasional special exhibitions and the museum shop where artists’ merchandise as well as locally-grown rice and Japanese sake are available.

“Tunnel of Light” in the Gorge Tunnel of Kiyotsu Gorge is one of the permanent exhibitions at Echigo Tsumari Art Field at Satoyama and is quite popular. Kiyotsu Gorge with the columnar jointing is counted as one of Japan’s Three Major Gorges. Tunnel of Light was created by Ma Yansong / MAD Architects. The three observation decks in the 750m tunnel, the restroom at the 2nd overlooking spot, the panoramic spot and everything in between are all pieces of art. The panoramic spot at the end is a fantastic photo spot with the water reflecting the sharp cliff of the gorge.