Akino Fuku Museum

Akino Fuku Museum is located at Hamamatsu city Shizuoka Prefecture, and it is a museum featured only one famous female artist, Akino Fuku. She was born in this region, and later lived in Kyoto city. It was built as one of the projects for the area rehabilitation of this region.

Because it went through such a process, it has two special properties. First, it is quite small as a public building, because it's featuring only one artist and it located at a relatively remote area. Second, the planner was chosen by personal relationship (he was Akino's relatives friend), so, the planner could make this museum distinctive-looking. And the planner's name is Fujimori Terunobu, one of the most expected architects in Japan. It is the reason we aim this museum.

This region is called the Tenryu Ward, and famous as a land prospered a forestry industry. One of the famous forestry products is called "Tenryu-sugi", "sugi" is Japanese cedar. If you read one of my articles, "MOSAIC TILE MUSEUM", you may notice the planner is same. Like the MOSAIC TILE MUSEUM, its exterior and interior were finished by many natural produced materials. Outer wall was finished partly by Tenryu-sugi and mainly by a mortar mixed chip of straw to have the effect that looks like a wooden building. As the roofing, he used flagstone slates to have an antique impression.

This museum is standing on a hill top. From a car parking lot at the bottom of the hill, we walk up a semicircular slope to the museum. Now, there is a mountain covered by many trees in front of our route, so we walk up the skirt of it. A strange shape building is coming into our eyesight. The tea-house named "Bouku-ro"which was described by the planner, Mr. Fujimori "it was finished like a wild boar". It was placed when an event was held a few years ago. And it can use as a tea-house practically, however, general visitors cannot enter it. In the first place, there are no stairs, so people need to set a ladder and unlock a small door behind the structure. It's difficult for general visitors.     

The museum is in front of us, and there is a gateway at the left-hand side. Inside the gateway is a wide lobby, a high ceiling. 
Interior wall and ceiling are finished by white plaster mixed chip of straw, and uncovered cedar pillars and beams burned the surfaces. 
The atmosphere is something like a mountain lodge. People are required to take off shoes at the gate of the exhibition room and they feel the texture of the floor made by wood and mortar during appreciation of work.  

Its second floor is quite small, half size of the first floor, and mainly there is a special exhibition room only. When we visit, this room is closed. In the first floor, there is a terrace beside the lobby, this terrace is overhung on a steep cliff, so we can get a wide view here. On the other hand, there is no veranda in the second floor. We suppose this plan makes us feel old-fashioned impression.

We investigated not only the flourish front side but also the backyard used for maintenance and support. Backside wooden walls are changed miserably. Their proud "Tenryu-sugi" walls were severely weathered and the edge of them were rotten with damp from the ground. Furthermore, several parts where something was placed have wide holes. Mortar walls are also stained, edge of the steps of emergency stairs covered something like moss. This museum is located relatively near center of a town, however, the menace of nature, we cannot underestimate it.