
Yugawara was long known as a hot spring resort that was mentioned in the Manyoshu, and many cultural figures visited from the Meiji to the Showa eras to rest.
Seiho Takeuchi, a Japanese-style painter who was called ``Taikan of the East, Seiho of the West,'' and Western-style painter Sotaro Yasui settled in this area in their later years.
Yugawara Art Museum was opened in 1998 by renovating a long-established inn where Soseki Natsume and Seiho Takeuchi stayed. Currently, in addition to the "Hiramatsu Reiji Museum", which exhibits the works of contemporary Japanese painter Reiji Hiramatsu, and the "Permanent Museum," which is a collection of works, special exhibitions and exhibitions of contemporary artists are held.
Contemporary artist exhibitions are usually held two to three times a year, featuring works and artists related to Yugawara. In the museum, Reiji Hiramatsu's atelier is open to the public, and you can see works in progress and Japanese painting materials that he actually uses.
<Access> About 12 minutes by bus bound for "Fudotaki/Okuyugawara" from JR Yugawara Station