Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art

The Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art stands in Geijutsu no Mori Park in Kugawa, Kofu. It opened on November 3, 1978, and was designed by Kunio Maekawa. The first works it bought at opening were two by Jean-Francois Millet, The Sower and Shepherdess Bringing Home Her Flock at Nightfall, and it has been known ever since as the museum of Millet.

The policy of building the collection around Barbizon-school painters was set by Governor Kunio Tanabe and the first director, Teiji Chizawa, and the purchase of The Sower was approved by the prefectural assembly as a project marking the 100th anniversary of the prefecture. The museum holds about 70 works by or related to Millet, the largest collection in Japan and said to be the fourth largest in the world, and they are rotated four times a year. The Sower and Gleaners, Summer sometimes travel to museums abroad. The collection also includes Barbizon-school painters such as Courbet, as well as Turner, Chagall and Vlaminck, works by painters from Yamanashi, and the Hagiwara Hideo collection (about 4,800 prints). Sculptures by Rodin and Henry Moore are also installed in the park.

The museum has a Millet Hall, a themed exhibition room, a Hagiwara Hideo memorial room, and a special exhibition room, plus a restaurant and shop. The park is known for autumn colors, with a ginkgo avenue in the parking area, and Mt. Fuji can be seen on clear days. From Kofu Station, take a bus from the south exit, stop 1; a taxi takes about 15 minutes.