Rokuzan Art Museum

Rokuzan Art Museum in Azumino is dedicated to Ogiwara Morie, known as Rokuzan, who studied in Paris under Rodin in the early 1900s and brought Western bronze sculpture techniques back to Japan. His work, with its attention to human form and muscular tension, broke significantly from the decorative traditions of Meiji-era Japanese art. The museum holds his major pieces alongside work by contemporaries who followed in his path. The building sits within a garden, and several large bronzes are displayed outdoors among the trees. Azumino itself is a pleasant town beneath the northern Alps, and the museum fits naturally into a day that includes the Daio Wasabi Farm and the surrounding riverside cycling paths.