Akita Museum Of Art, Akita

The thirty, forty foot long mural featuring Akita cultural festivals, traditions, local products, and customs is really the center attraction here. You can spend a surprising amount of time looking at it from all the different perspectives. It's a fascinating piece made by a famous Japanese artist for the museum itself. This artist was one of many experimenting with using Western painting and portait techniques to paint uniquely local, Japanese scenes. Very, very neat. Plus, it's only 500 yen to get in.

It is worth travelling just to see the building, which is by the fascinating architect Tadeo Ando. Despite its unpromising site he has created an amazing cafe and shop area with a mirror pool which seems to lead to the park opposite, even though it is actually quite a way away. The main staircase is also a work of art in itself. There is quite a bit of work by the artist "Tsuguharu Foujita", who travelled from Japan to Paris and hung out with the likes of Picasso. His work was interesting and I was glad to have made his acquaintance but the best piece of his art for me was a huge mural depicting Akita through the seasons which he painted very quickly. There was also a most interesting exhibition on Shinichi Saito's many pictures of the three blind musicians legend. Unfortunately you're not allowed to take photos inside the galleries.