Biwa Art Museum

About

The Shiga Prefectural Lake Biwa Museum is among Japan's largest facilities devoted to a single lake. Fundraising began in 1985, and after roughly eleven years of preparation the museum opened on October 20, 1996, on the shore of Karasu Peninsula in Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture. Designed by Nikken Sekkei, the building has one basement level and two floors above ground, a total floor area of 23,987 square meters, and cost about 23 billion yen to build, using a mix of steel-reinforced and plain reinforced concrete. Its exhibits are divided among Galleries A through C and an aquarium, focused on freshwater fish and the relationship between people and the lake. As of March 2016, the registered collection numbered 512,036 items. The tunnel aquarium was renovated in the summer of 2016, and a three-phase renewal of the exhibition galleries was completed in 2020. The museum opens 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with last entry at 4:00, and closes on Mondays (staying open if Monday is a public holiday). Admission to the permanent exhibits is 840 yen for adults (670 yen for groups) and 470 yen for university students (380 yen for groups), with high-school-age visitors and younger admitted free. Shiga residents sixty-five and older enter free with identification, as do visitors with disabilities and one companion.