First-rate modern and contemporary art museum designed by Tadao Ando; permanent collection 200 ¥.
The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art (MOPA), designed by the architect Tadao Ando and opened in 2002 beside the Kobe waterfront, is one of the most important art museums in western Japan. The building itself is a work of art: Ando used his usual language of bare concrete, controlled natural light and pure geometry to create spaces of contemplation that open to the sea in stepped terraces. The permanent collection spans Japanese and Western art of the 20th century with special emphasis on artists from the Kansai region, as well as a section devoted to the city's reconstruction after the 1995 earthquake. The Hyogo Contemporary section stands out, with works by emerging artists from the prefecture. Admission to the permanent collection costs 200 ¥ for adults; temporary exhibitions are priced separately (800-1.500 ¥). Hours: 10:00-18:00, closed on Mondays. It is a ten-minute walk from Meriken Park, facing the Higashinada waterfront. It is reached by bus to the Hyogo Kenritsu Bijutsukan-mae stop.
