Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET

Travel Information

Leandro Erlich, “Palimpsest : pond of sky” — Photo by Kioku Keizo

Kuwakubo Ryota, “LOST #6” Photo by Osamu Nakamrau

Antony Gormley, “FILL” Photo by Nakamura Osamu

Nakatani Michiko, “Voice from afar,” Photo: Kioku Keizo

Nawa Kohei, “Force,” Photo: Kioku Keizo

Ilya&Emilia Kabakov, “16 Ropes.” Photo: Kioku Keizo

Eye [mé] “movements” Photo: Kioku Keizo

Nicolas Darrot, "Ariel" Photo: Kioku Keizo

Massimo Bartolini feat. Lorenzo Bini, “Two River” Photo by Nakamura Osamu

Photo by Nakamura Osamu

Photo: Kioku Keizo

Photo by ANZAÏ

Facility Info and Map

[Hara Hiroshi＋ATELIERΦ: A Museum Dedicated to One-of-a-Kind Site-Specific Art]
The architectural design was handled by Hara Hiroshi＋ATELIERΦ, the firm behind the Sapporo Dome and the Kyoto Station Building. The museum is characterized by a space with a strong sense of centrality, where a central pond and atrium are surrounded by a gallery.

Permanent Artworks

We showcase artworks that delve deeply into the unique characteristics of Echigo-Tsumari’s landscape and culture, as well as artworks that allow viewers to experience firsthand the transformations in space and time at their exhibition sites.

[Artists with Permanent Installations]
Asai Yusuke / Stephen Antonakos / Leandro Erlich / Antony Gormley / Kaihatsu Yoshiaki / Nikita Kadan / Ilya&Emilia Kabakov / Kuwakubo Ryota / Kurita Koichi / Go Akira / Nicolas Darrot / Marnix de Nijs / Drawing Architecture Studio (Ezo-sha) /Nakatani Michiko / Nawa Kohei / Carsten Nicolai / Tanya Badanina / Hara Hiroshi + ATELIERΦ (Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo) / Hara Rintaro + Hara Yu / Massimo Bartolini feat. Lorenzo Bini / Hoshino Kenji / mé / Moriyama Daido /Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger

Important Notes When Purchasing Tickets

[Common Ticket]
・If you purchased your ticket online, you must exchange it for a paper ticket at the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET.

[Individual Ticket]
・Even if you have an individual ticket for the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET, you will not receive a discount or free admission to the Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel.

Admission Fees for Visitors with a Disability ID Card

Click here for details

Current Special Exhibitions

Echigo-Tsumari MonET Special Exhibition, Vol. 12: Ryohei Usui, “things that remind us we exist”

《Post》 2026 Photo: Kei Miyajima

Event Overview

[Guest Curator] Mari Tsukamoto (Chief Curator, Kochi Prefectural Museum of Art)
[Duration] September 12, 2026 (Sat) – November 23, 2026 (Mon, Closed on holidays) *Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
[Admission] Adults: 1,200 yen / Elementary and Middle School Students: 600 yen
*Admission fees include access to both the Permanent Exhibition and Special Exhibitions at the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET.
*During the Period covered by the Common Ticket, admission is permitted with the Common Ticket.

Click here for details

Waterside ENNICHI in MonET

Photo by Nakamura Osamu

[Duration] July 18 (Sat), 2026 – November 8 (Sun), 2026. Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (except holidays). 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (Last admission at 4:30 p.m.) *The illuminated display runs from sunset until 9:00 p.m.
[Admission] The artworks in the gallery are free to view.

Click here for details

Special Exhibitions (Recent Years)

Summer/Fall 2021:
“To Nirvana and Back—The Echigo-Tsumari Version of ‘King Lear: The Truth’” (Author: Moriyama Daido)
Winter 2022:
“Hokuetsu Snow Chronicle Adventure” (Artists: Takahashi Kyota, Hara Rintaro + Hara Yu, Fukasawa Takafumi, KOSUGE1-16)
Echigo-Tsumari Art Field 2022:
“Tribute Memorial Series: Artists of Echigo-Tsumari Living On Today”
“Women in Black / Women Wearing Black to Oppose War” (Artist: Ekaterina Muromtseva)
Winter 2023:
“Echigo-Tsumari: Aspects of Snow I” (Artists: Yu Kato, Komatsu Kosei, Yoshiya Hongo, Atsuko Mochida)
Summer 2024:
“Captain Monet and the 87-Day Square Adventure” (Artists: Hara Rintaro + Hara Yu, et al.) 2024 Special Exhibitions:
Winter 2025:
“Captain Monet and the Voyage Across the Great Snowfields” (Artists: Hara Rintaro + Hara Yu, et al.)
Summer–Fall 2025:
“The Answer Is Blown by the Wind” (Directed by BankART1929; Participating Artists: Aiko Yamamoto, Akinori Matsumoto, Ihara Koro, Ushijima Tatsuji)
Winter 2026:
“Honyaradoo—Snow Meeting” (Directed by BankART1929; Participating Artists: 6lines studio + Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, Aiko Yamamoto, Ihara Koro, Keisuke Takahashi)
Ongoing Special Exhibition:
Vol. 1 “Material Shop Catharsis: Tokamachi Branch & ‘Dormant Data Grand Prix 2022–2023’ Archival Exhibition”
Vol. 2 “Printing Report: The Road Moves” (Artist: Yu Matsumoto)
Vol. 3 “Sequel: Song of Parallel Small Boats—Emerald Vessels” (Artists: Kazuyuki Takezaki + Yu Nishimura)
Vol. 4 “Reverse String” (Artist: Ai Tanaka)
Vol. 5 “Slow to Act” (Artist: Kyoko Dezu)
Vol. 6 “Danger Everywhere” (Artist: Koichi Mitsuoka)
Vol. 7 “The Colorless Man” (Author: Kan Miyake)
Vol. 8 “Drinking with You All, Inside the Basket” (Author: Ayako Ohno)
Vol. 9 “THE NEVER ENDING BUILDING” (Author: Tomonosuke Kurachi)
Vol. 10 “Ryosaku Miyasaka: ART at 75” (Author: Ryosaku Miyasaka)
Vol. 11 “Cancer Queen” (Author: Ryosuke Higo)

MonET Museum Shop

Photo by Nakamura Osamu

The largest shop in Echigo-Tsumari specializing in Echigo-Tsumari Art Field products. We carry a wide selection of local specialties, including official ▽ logo products, artist-designed items, rice grown in the Rice Fields, and original-design sake and sweets. We also display and sell small artworks, such as paintings and sculptures, by participating artists. Take home a variety of “art” as a memento of your trip. Products are also available for purchase through our online store (excluding some items)
*A MonET admission fee is required to access the shop.

Click here for our online store

Event and Community Space

The facility also features “Salon MonET,” which serves as both a café and a library. The theater screens films related to Echigo-Tsumari, including documentary footage and feature-length films. Additionally, a community space in the corridor—designed under the supervision of Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd.—has opened. It aims to serve as an open, creative space where local residents and visitors can interact and inspire one another.

History of the Art Museum

Completed in 2003, it opened as the “Echigo-Tsumari Exchange Center Kinare,” a hub for local products and tourism.Following a renovation in 2012, the “Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art [Kinare]” was established. Then, in 2021, after undergoing another major interior renovation, it reopened as the “Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET” (MonET, Museum on Echigo-Tsumari).

Facility Info and Map

Open hours	10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (Last admission at 4:30 p.m.) *Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, except on national holidays
Tel	025-761-7766
Admission	Permanent Exhibition: Adults 1,000 yen, Elementary and Middle School Students 500 yen Special Exhibitions (including the permanent exhibition): Adults 1,200 yen, Elementary and Middle School Students 600 yen ● Group Rates (20 or more people) Permanent Exhibition: Adults 800 yen, Elementary and Junior High Students 400 yen Special Exhibitions: Adults 1,000 yen, Elementary and Junior High Students 500 yen
Address	6-1-71-2 Honmachi, Tokamachi city, Niigata Prefecture
Note	Click here for school and other group use in Tokamachi city and Tsunan town (application for fee reduction or waiver) <Access> ■By train to “Tokamachi” (10-minute walk from Tokamachi Station) Approx. 2 hours from Tokyo—Take the Joetsu Shinkansen to “Echigo-Yuzawa Station,” then transfer to the Hokuhoku Line 2 hours 30 minutes from Kanazawa—Take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to “Joetsu-Myoko Station,” then transfer to the Echigo Tokimeki Railway and the Hokuhoku Line ■By car to “Tokamachi” Approx. 3 hours from Tokyo—Take the Kan-Etsu Expressway to the “Mukamachi” IC, then take the Hachiko Pass Expressway, via National Route 253 Approx. 6 hours from Osaka—Take the Meishin Expressway and Hokuriku Expressway to the “Joetsu” IC, then via National Route 253

Google Maps

Related Information

FEATURED

^4/25SAT ‐ ^11/8SUN

*Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, except on holidays

Echigo-Tsumari Art Field 2026

The year-round program for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field 2026 kicks off on April 25! Enjoy Echigo-Tsumari as you explore the Special Exhibitions and events set against the ever-changing scenery of the satoyama countryside.

FEATURED

^6/27SAT ‐ ^8/31MON

Echigo-Tsumari MonET Special Exhibition Series Vol. 11: Ryosuke Higo, “Cancer Queen”

A series of Special Exhibitions that has been held at the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET since 2023. For each Special Exhibition, a guest curator selects artists and organizes the exhibition. The duration of each Special Exhibition is one year.

Echigo-Tsumari Exchange Center: Akashi no Yu

This hot spring is located in the heart of Tokamachi city. It’s about a 10-minute walk from Tokamachi Station, making it convenient for visitors arriving by train. The same building houses the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET, and right next door is the Kurotsuten Tokamachi Roadside Station, so you can enjoy art, dining, and shopping for souvenirs.

Salon MonET

Opened in July 2021 to coincide with the renovation of the Museum on Echigo-Tsumari, MonET. It serves as both a café and a venue for the artwork “Two River” by Massimo Bartolini feat. Lorenzo Bini. Time flows slowly and peacefully within the space.

Nearby spots

Salon MonET

Echigo-Tsumari Exchange Center: Akashi no Yu

Ubusuna House

This former minka house built in 1924 is reborn as a museum of potteries. On the ground floor, distinguished Japanese potters have reimagined a traditional cooking stove, washbasin, and bathtub. Visitors are welcome to enjoy local cuisines and delicacies cooked by local women and served in plates and bowls created by these potters. Three tea rooms on the upper floor also serve as a gallery space.

Hachi & Seizo Tashima Museum of Picture Book Art

A former elementary school opened in 2009 as an interactive “spatial picture book” museum created by author Tashima Seizo. Featuring the three last remaining students as the main characters, the museum uses the space to recreate a picture-book-like setting, bringing to life not only the students and teachers who once attended this school but even the ghosts. (Closed for the winter from late November through late April)

House of Light

An artwork by light artist James Turrell. Conceived as a guesthouse for meditation, it was modeled after the Hoshina Residence, a traditional local dwelling designated as an Important Cultural Property. Turrell drew inspiration for this concept from Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s *In Praise of Shadows*, blending the intimate light of traditional Japanese architecture with the light-based works he has created.

Tunnel of Light (Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel)

One of Echigo-Tsumari’s most iconic landmarks, the Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel, has been renovated to incorporate artworks. The 750-meter-long tunnel is conceptualized as a submarine cut off from the outside world, with artworks displayed throughout the interior—including four observation decks that serve as periscopes offering views of the outside.

Isobe Yukihisa Memorial Echigo-Tsumari Kiyotsu Soko Museum of Art ［SoKo］

A unique art museum housed in the former Kiyotsukyo Elementary School, offering visitors the chance to view large-scale artworks in expansive spaces. The gymnasium serves as both a storage facility and a gallery, while the school building has been transformed into a warehouse-style museum dedicated to the works of Isobe Yukihisa. Special Exhibitions are held periodically in the gymnasium. (Irregular opening hours)

Stay In Touch

Stay connected with the ETAT official social media to receive the latest news and event information, and the many seasonal faces of Echigo-Tsumari as well as new issue of the ETAT official media, “Art from the Land”.