What other travelers are saying about Nizou Yamamoto Museum
This museum is dedicated to Fumi Yamamoto, the person who created the background paintings for Ghibli. The anime I watched when I was young is on display, and I found out that the backgrounds are realistically drawn, and the backgrounds were making it better. I like the writing "Time waits for no one" in the blackboard. It reminds me of my childhood memories, so I took a picture of this unforgettable place.
The museum displays animation backgrounds from Yamamoto's career across four rooms plus a workshop space. It includes the Room of a Sky with Clouds with cloud-shaped sofas for viewing animations, a recreated artist's studio with his workspace and supplies, and the "Goto Hyakkei" (100 Sceneries of Goto) collection depicting local landscapes.
The museum is housed in Matsuzono-tei, a renovated samurai residence originally constructed in 1863 during the late Edo period. This historic structure creates a unique atmosphere where traditional Japanese architecture meets modern animation art. The building is located on Bukeyashiki Street near other historic sites including the Fukue Samurai Mansion Street and Fukue Castle ruins.
Admission costs 400 yen for adults and 200 yen for children. Entry is free if you have a ticket to the Goto Tourism and Historical Materials Museum. Photography is prohibited in most areas of the museum but is permitted in select spaces including the cloud room.
Fukue Island is accessible by ferry from Fukuoka or by plane from Nagasaki and Fukuoka airports. Once on the island, renting a car is the recommended transportation method for reaching the museum and exploring the surrounding area. Visitors should reserve a rental car in advance, as this is the most convenient way to navigate the island and visit nearby attractions.
I had never heard of this art director before coming here. Especially since I didn't know he was from Goto. I had no idea he was responsible for a significant portion of Ghibli's background art, and had a major influence on artists like Mamoru Hosoda and Makoto Shinkai.
Learning that he was someone who truly built the foundation of Japanese animation made me realize how ignorant I was, but I was also deeply moved. He left Goto to work in Tokyo, but over the years he rediscovered the charm of Goto and painted "One Hundred Views of Goto" as a way of giving back. Many of the works are snapshots of everyday life, but the gentle, delicate brushwork is truly captivating. I couldn't help but buy the art book.
Photography is generally prohibited, but you can take photos in two places: the recreated studio and the space surrounded by his signature cloud paintings. It's clear to see that the touch of the clouds in "The Forest of Spirits" and "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is impossible to imitate.
The contents are beyond imagination from the exterior of the building.
Naturally, it's popular with Ghibli fans, but even for those who aren't, it didn't feel too far from Fukue Port, so we decided to walk there.
There seemed to be a parking lot nearby.
There is a fee to enter the museum, so we paid the admission fee at the reception desk on the day and toured around. Photography was prohibited inside the museum, so I'll only show you the exterior of the building. I'll upload some photos.
