Nitori Museum of Art — Attraction in Otaru

The Nitori Museum of Art is part of Otaru Art Base, a collection of four museums in historically important buildings beside or near to the Otaru canal. The museum is housed in the former Takushoku Bank Otaru branch. The first floor houses the entrance, gift shop and the Tiffany stained glass window exhibition. The Tiffany collection is the only art that maybe photographed. Photos cannot be taken of the rest of the collection. There is a paid parking lot behind the museum. The second floor houses wood carvings by Takamura Koun. The third floor houses Western style paintings by Japanese painters as well some by European artists including Renoir. The fourth floor maybe the most interesting part of the collection. It displays paintings, sculptures by Japanese artists and original...

This museum houses an eclectic collection of stained glass, traditional and modern Japanese painting and a few other things. The entry fee for this alone is 1600 yen, which is quite steep for a museum of this scale. There is almost no English caption and explanation. And no photography is allowed. One of the staff came specifically to the basement to reprimand a Japanese visitor for flouting the rule! Anyway, we bought a package ticket that covers 4 museums on Otaru for 2900 yen. That makes the deal slightly...

A surprising collection. Tiffany rescued from a church on the way in. And then some interesting western and Japanese art Chagall, Renoir (big one not so good), Buffet and some Foujita. And some good Japanese scroll pictures and a couple of gold screens. And a Hiroshi Senju on the stairs. All together a surprise for a small regional museum. And they seem to have money adding to...