Kyushu National Museum

A space for everyone

I had been through the rainbow tunnel (the lighting gradually changes colors) before, but never went into the building. It looked beautiful from the outside, like a mirror reflecting the lush trees surrounding the space. There are English, Korean, and Chinese versions of their website. It showed prices for different exhibitions and everything on the first floor is free to enter: a tiny cafe, an interactive exhibit which is perfect for kids, and a gift shop. There are two ways to enter – the main entrance is a little more straight forward from Dazaifu Station, the other is perfect if you already walked down the busy main street leading to Dazaifu Tenmangu. From that side you'll get to go through the rainbow tunnel to transition into a more reflective mood. The ticket booth is outside, near the parking lot at the main entrance. If you're going to the rotating special exhibit, you'll go up to the third floor. The cultural exchange exhibition on the fourth floor is generally permanent and displays national treasures from Asia. General admission is 430 yen or included with special exhibit tickets. I visited for the Buhrle Collection special exhibit which was super crowded. At that time the cultural exchange exhibition had just opened the “Feature Exhibition: Thousand-armed Kannon (Sahasrabhuja) and Followers in Ninnaji Temple” in room 11 until early September. At the SP Hi-Vision Theater with 8K resolution short films are shown in Japanese. Headsets that can play the audio in other languages are available.