About the Museum

Hello, travelers!
This is Maru, your Saru-Kuma writer 🙂🙃

Today I’m taking you to
Shimasaki, Nishi-ku, Kumamoto City, to visit
the Shimada Museum of Art (Shimada Bijutsukan).

What I want to focus on this time is a tiny free gallery you can pop into without paying admission (^ ^)

Photography inside the main exhibition rooms is of course not allowed, so I can’t show you those 😢
But the free gallery was OK to photograph.

The parking lot is shared with the on-site cafe, so carpooling is recommended.

Here’s the entrance.

We’ve previously featured “Ki no Kemuri,” the cafe attached to the Shimada Museum of Art — please drop by for a casual look while you’re here!

Ki no Kemuri: A Hidden Stylish Cafe with a Fireplace, Right Next to the Shimada Museum of Art (Shimasaki, Nishi-ku, Kumamoto City)

Of course, if you have time, do explore the museum itself.
Kids are welcome too (^ ^)

Fans of the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi will find some must-see pieces here, and the museum also rotates a variety of special exhibitions.

This greenery is right next to the entrance, but
the inner garden of the museum is absolutely lovely. I hear you can sit on a chair and gaze out at it for as long as you like ✨

Step inside and you’ll find the restroom and reception desk on the right.

On the left is the free gallery — a cozy little space, maybe three tatami mats wide.

The Seed Gallery “Tanebo”
This is what really caught my eye! ( ✧Д✧)

I chatted with the director’s wife, who explained that seeds don’t have minds or wisdom of their own…

but they spread far and wide, hitch rides on animals, drift across oceans —

using all sorts of clever methods to keep their species going 😮

The mysterious world of seeds. Let’s take a peek!

Seeds packed in everywhere!

So many shapes, sizes, and colors — each one full of personality!

Some are arranged like art objects — really stylish. The beauty of nature!

Apparently students from Tokai University were involved in putting this exhibition together.

Highlights & Recommended Spots

Let me share a few stories I picked up from the director’s wife.

By the way, she’s allowed to handle the seeds, but visitors are not — so please look but don’t touch!
It’s a lovely place to bring kids, just remind them gently (^ ^)

This is cacao.
Did you know they were this big?! (°д°)

And this is the world’s largest pine cone — the Oomimatsu (Coulter pine)!
Huge!

This one — I think it’s a seed from Thailand — looks just like a pair of deer antlers (°д°)
It hooks onto animals to hitch a ride.

You can definitely see how it would snag onto fur (°д°)
Who even designed this thing?!

This seed even appeared in a Japanese TV commercial once.

A flying seed!
With built-in wings! It drifts gently over long distances.

The vivid one is from the Traveler’s Tree (°д°)
An almost unreal color — but yes, this is nature.

Probably colored that way to keep predators from eating it.

The one in the back left is called Funemi — it has large pouch-like wings,
and yes, this one flies too. The director’s wife explains it all so passionately.

You can really feel her love for seeds! ( ✧Д✧)

“Doesn’t it look just like Ultraman’s face?!” she said.

It really does!

This is a common invasive weed, but apparently a single pod is packed with tons of tiny seeds.

Kind of like dandelion fluff.

The Bodhi tree’s seed and leaf grow fused together —

shaped just like a takeutombo (Japanese bamboo helicopter toy).

When she gave it a toss, it spun down through the air exactly like the toy. So fun! (^ ^)

I heard plenty more stories I’d love to share, but I’ll stop here (^^;;
The rest you’ll have to discover for yourself ✨
Related article below ↓

Ki no Kemuri: A Hidden Stylish Cafe with a Fireplace, Right Next to the Shimada Museum of Art (Shimasaki, Nishi-ku, Kumamoto City)

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※Information is current as of the visit. Prices and hours may change. Please confirm before traveling.