2 Best Sights in Western Honshu, Japan

Founded in 1936, the Museum of Folkcraft highlights the beauty of traditional objects used in everyday life. Housed in a series of 18th-century storefronts, the atmosphere perfectly suits the many wooden, ceramic, and lacquerware objects on display. There are no detailed descriptions in English, but the elegance of the pieces on display speaks for itself.

In 1930, noted art collector and founder Magosaburo Ohara built this Parthenon-style building to house a collection of Western art with works by El Greco, Corot, Manet, Monet, Rodin, Gauguin, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, and many others. They were shrewdly acquired for him by his friend Kojima Torajiro, a talented artist whom he dispatched to Europe for purchases. The museum is wonderfully compact and can be appreciated in a single morning or an afternoon. Two wings exhibit Japanese paintings, tapestries, woodblock prints, and pottery—including works by Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach—as well as modern and ancient Asian art, much of it also brought home from trips made by Torajiro at Ohara's behest. The adjoining Kogei-kan (crafts hall) displays a selection of ceramic and textile art and is housed in a beautiful Edo-period storehouse.