Fukuoka Asian Art Museum

What Fukuoka Asian Art Museum looked like originally and what it looks like now are two different stories — both worth knowing before you arrive.

Fukuoka's position as the closest major Japanese city to continental Asia has shaped its cultural identity, and the Asian Art Museum — opened in 1999 — embodies this with a permanent collection that represents every major tradition of contemporary and traditional art from 22 Asian countries. It is, by most assessments, the most comprehensive collection of modern Asian art in any single museum in the world.

The collection emphasizes works from the 20th century onward: contemporary Chinese ink painting alongside Indonesian batik, Vietnamese lacquer alongside Pakistani truck art. The curatorial thesis — that Asia is not monolithic — is sustained by the sheer diversity of what's on display. The building, on the 7th and 8th floors of a shopping complex, means it's often overlooked even by Fukuoka residents.