The Karuizawa Picture Book Museum is a charming forest retreat housing over 6,000 Anglo-American and Japanese picture books, including some rare first editions and a wonderful collection of original illustrations. Two excellent temporary exhibitions were on during our visit.
Situated in Karuizawa’s serene “Forest of Muse” (Ehon-no Mori), the Picture Book Museum is spread across four beautiful buildings set amidst a lush garden. The architecture and landscape blend organically—a quality we found so often in Japan. The buildings themselves have a warm, Nordic-inspired feel—wooden interiors, soft lighting, and big windows that frame the surrounding forest. It’s more like stepping into a cosy retreat than a typical museum.
The Forest of Muse isn’t just a pretty name—it’s part of a broader cultural village dreamt up by Kazuo Hata, who founded the museum to create a space where people of all ages could reconnect with the joy and imagination of picture books. The area also includes artist studios, a library, and the Karuizawa Erz Toy Museum just across the road.
Twice a year, the museum stages a major temporary exhibition. The 2025 summer show, Aesop’s Fables and Animal Picture Books, showcases over a hundred original illustrations by renowned artists and illustrators from around the world. Brilliant watercolour works by the prolific Japanese artist Ayano Imai featured prominently. Seating stations throughout the space were stocked with the picture books whose illustrations adorned the walls—hours of reading fun for kids (and the young at heart)!
The second, smaller exhibition was a true delight. It featured illustrations from a single picture book, Bonsai Grandpa, written and illustrated by Etsuko Kobai. Around a dozen oversized original watercolour artworks were displayed in a cosy, intimate space. Additional materials and objects in glass cabinets offered insight into Kobai’s celebrated career and other titles. All of her books were available in the gallery shop. Bonsai Grandpa was love at first sight—I was lucky to be able to buy the book right there.
Discovering some wonderful Japanese illustrators and adding their books to my extensive picture book collection was exactly what I had hoped to get out of this museum! I’ll be reviewing the heartwarming Bonsai Grandpa in more detail on this blog in the coming days—check it out if you’re interested in this genre. In the meantime, there’s a quick flip-through video at the end of this post.
In addition to temporary exhibitions, the museum’s main building explores the history and evolution of picture books from the 18th century onward. It features some of the museum’s most valuable exhibits, including illustrations by Randolph Caldecott, Walter Crane, and Kate Greenaway. One of the smaller buildings is devoted entirely to Peter Rabbitand Beatrix Potter.
Another beautiful space is the museum’s small, round library building. I found some delightful treasures there—check out the photos and videos below for a glimpse.
We unfortunately ran out of time to properly explore the Karuizawa Erz Toy Museum, located just across the road in the same Forest of Muse. We only had a brief half-hour for a quick walkthrough. This museum tells the story of toy-making in the Erzgebirge region of Germany and is organised into clusters that showcase toys by type and place of manufacture—often from century-old workshops run by generations of toy-makers. The Karuizawa Toy Museum is a sister museum to the one in Seiffen, Germany, and highlights the shared traditions between German and Japanese toy-making.
