Miho Museum

The Miho Museum opened in 1997 is located near the city Kōka in Japanese Shiga Prefecture, northeast of Kyoto. The museum dates back to Mihoko Koyama ( after which it is named), the heiress to the Toyobo textile business, one of the richest women in Japan. In 1970, she founded the spiritual movement Shinji Shumeikai, which now reportedly has 400,000 members worldwide. In 1991 she gave the order, the museum near " Misono ", the spiritual center of the Shumei to build in the mountains of Shiga.

Collection

The Miho Museum is Mihoko Koyama's private collection of Asian and Western antiques, as well as other exhibits worth of allegedly 300 million to 1 billion U.S. dollars, purchased by Shumei on the world market to the opening of the museum in 1997. Overall, the collection includes 2000 exhibits, of which about 250 are seen.

Architecture

The renowned architect IM Pei had already built the bell tower in " Misono " Shumei international headquarters near the Miho Museum. Mihoko Koyama and her daughter, Hiroko Koyama commissioned Pei then to build the Miho Museum.

80 % of the 17,400 -square-foot building is built underground into the hill. According to an edition of the local authorities only a limited area of the outside was allowed to be visible. As the collection grew larger during the construction phase, the project was expanded and ultimately built as originally planned more underground area. The roof consists of a glass and steel construction, while the walls beige Magny Doré limestone consist of France - the same material Pei also used when receiving the Louvre.

The way to the museum leads to a tunnel entrance. You can travel this road with electric vehicles of the museum. The tunnel is about 200 meters long and slightly curved, so that the output is not initially visible. At the other end of the tunnel opens into a half suspension bridge, which is stretched over a 100 meter deep gorge. The passage through the tunnel symbolizes the entry of another, paradise -like world ( Shangri- La). The bridge leads into a small square, lead by the up of some steps to the entrance of the museum. This small staircase resembles the typical wells to Japanese temples.

In 2002, the Museum Bridge was awarded the " Outstanding Structure Award" of the IABSE.