A short walk from Nagano’s famous Zenko-ji Temple, the Nagano Prefectural Shinano Art Museum has been the city’s preeminent museum since it opened in 1996. Renovated through 2020, the museum was formerly called the ‘Nagano Prefectural Shinano Art Museum’ and reopened in 2021 as the ‘Nagano Prefectural Art Museum’.

The museum has an underlying theme of ‘man and nature’ – in reference the beautiful landscapes of Nagano – and include exhibitions of paintings, sculpture, photography, video and animation. Adjacent to the main museum, the Highashiyama Kaii Gallery profiles the work of the eponymous artist and Nagano-native. The gallery showcases his body of work which conveys a deep love for the nature and landscapes of Nagano. In total, the gallery holds around 1000 artworks including paintings, sketches and other preparatory works. Only a few minutes stroll from Zenko-ji, the gallery is an enjoyable addition to time spent at the temple.

The museum is open daily from 09:00 to 17:00 with the connected museum restaurant open from 11:30 to 20:00 and cafe open from 10:00 to 17:00.