Itchiku Kubota Art Museum: hours, tickets and getting there

Itchiku Kubota (1917–2003³) was a Japanese textile artist. The museum was his home and workshop, and it’s now the permanent home of the Kubota Collection.

He’s known for reviving, and partly reinventing, tsujigahana, a lost dyeing technique from the late 15th to early 16th century³.

The Symphony of Light series

Kubota’s Symphony of Light is a continuous series of dyed kimono³. The current display runs from 18 June 2026 to about mid-December 2026⁴.

It shows 29 works from the series (Kōkyō), 15⁴ of them on autumn to late-autumn themes.

The buildings and garden

Kubota designed the museum and its garden himself. Here’s what you walk through:

• Main hall: opened in October 1994⁴, in a natural red-pine forest overlooking Mount Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi.
• New Wing: opened in July 1997⁴, built of Okinawan coral and limestone⁵ in a style inspired by Gaudí.
• Tearoom: the traditional tearoom was Kubota’s workshop⁵.
• Café: you can drink matcha while looking out over the garden⁵.
• Pier: on clear days the pier beside the main hall gives a good view of Mount Fuji⁴.

The Itchiku Kubota Museum is in the wooded hills along the north shore of Lake Kawaguchi³, in Fujikawaguchiko. The town is on the north side of Mount Fuji⁸ and holds three of the Fuji Five Lakes⁹.

Google Maps lists it as the Kubota Itchiku Art Museum, at 2255 Kawaguchi, Fujikawaguchiko, Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi 401-0304⁷.

Getting there without a car

Lake Kawaguchi is the easiest of the five lakes to reach¹⁰. Get yourself to Kawaguchiko Station, then let the Red Line sightseeing bus do the last leg.

1. 1

   Tokyo to Kawaguchiko Station

   Highway buses from Shinjuku take about 1 hour 45 minutes; the train takes about 2 hours 10 minutes.

2. 2

   Red Line bus to the museum

   Ride about 20 minutes to the Kubota Itchiku Bijutsukan-mae stop. The red line runs every 15 minutes.

3. 3

   Or take a taxi

   A taxi from Kawaguchiko Station takes about 10 minutes.

Driving to the museum

From Shinjuku it’s about 90 minutes¹ by car to Kawaguchiko IC. From there, allow about 15 minutes on Route 137¹ to the museum.

• The museum garden, along the Maple Corridor, is another autumn-leaves spot worth seeing¹³.
• The Fuji Kawaguchiko Autumn Leaves Festival runs 7 to 29 November¹⁴.
• The Symphony of Light display stays up until about mid-December 2026⁴.
• Winter is cold: January’s daily mean at Kawaguchiko is −0.4 °C¹⁵, and the museum closes earlier from December to March¹.

Seeing it on a day tour

If you’d rather not handle the buses yourself, this day tour from Tokyo lists the museum as a Kawaguchiko stop, along with Oishi Park.

Day tour

Mount Fuji Internet-famous Scenic Spot Day Tour | Departing from Tokyo

4.8 (1,700 reviews) on Klook, checked October 2026

From US$49.35

See dates on Klook