5 Best Sights in The Japan Alps and the North Chubu Coast, Japan

This circular building was created to entwine a museum's architecture with the art exhibits, and for exhibition designers to take cues from the architecture. Transparent walls and scattered galleries encourage visitors to choose their own route. Previous exhibitions have included a Gerhard Richter retrospective, a video installation by Mathew Barney, and the work of Japanese photographer Araki Nobuyoshi. The building itself is a sight worth seeing, and the free, public terraces and plazas are a perfect place to stroll and relax. It's south of Kanazawa Park, next to city hall.

Come here to see the country's best permanent collection of Kutani-yaki (colorful overglaze-painted porcelain), dyed fabrics, and old Japanese paintings.

The museum is devoted to the lively, colorful, and widely popular ukiyo-e woodblock prints of Edo-period artists. Highlights include Hiroshige's scenes of the Tokaido (the main trading route through Honshu in feudal Japan), Hokusai's views of Mt. Fuji, and Sharaku's Kabuki actors. Based on the enormous holdings of the wealthy Sakai family, the museum's 100,000 pieces (displays rotate every three months) include some of Japan's finest prints and represent the largest collection of its kind in the world.

The red polka dots on the facade of this museum, east of the Nakamachi district, are a very firm nod to arguably the most famous person to come from Matsumoto: artist Yayoi Kusama. Part of the permanent collection focuses of Kusama's avant-garde art and art installations, and includes a version of the iconic yellow and black pumpkin sculpture installed on Naoshima Island. There are also exhibits of calligraphy, painting and sculpture from other Matsumoto-born artists.

This museum displays the work of Rokuzan Ogiwara, a sculptor who was influenced by Auguste Rodin and pioneered modern sculptural styles in Japan. He is especially known for his female figures in repose and male figures in heroic poses. This ivy-covered brick building with a stunning bell tower is in Hotaka, 26 minutes (¥330) north of Matsumoto Station on the JR Oito Line. From Hotaka Station it's a 10-minute walk to the museum.