[D.T. Suzuki Museum] Things you get after walking through the Exterior Corridor

Suzuki Daisetsu is a Buddhist philosopher who spread Zen thought to Western countries. He was born in Kanazawa in 1870. There are three main spaces in the museum.

Exhibition Space: a place for knowing about him
Learning Space: a place for learning his mind and thoughts
Contemplative Space: a place for each person to think for themselves

When you visit the museum, go in with a free and natural mind, without any preconceived notions. Please use the changes in your mindset that you have experienced through what you see and hear in the museum to inform your own reflections in the future.

Interior Corridor

As you walk through the interior corridors, you will come across many of the his works and his related items. This is the place where you learn his life and his thoughts.

Exterior Corridor and Water Mirror Garden

As you walk through Exterior Corridor, you see the garden with a simple concrete pool filled with water and a single building beyond. The ground is surrounded by a grey walls.

Contemplative Space

The white building standing in the water mirror garden is a tranquil space called the "Contemplation Space." It has a simple structure, just a wooden bench in a dimly lit square room. After seeing the Exterior Corridor and the Water Mirror Garden, the scenery outside seems like another world.

What may come to your mind while you are seeing the Water Mirror Garden

Many people beside the Water Mirror Garden tend to hold their cameras, waiting for the perfect moment to take a picture when no one else is around. When you find a great view, unfortunately someone is standing there, you wish they would move quickly. And at some point, you realize that you are getting in someone's way. You can see people standing quietly on the benches in the contemplation space and the exterior corridor. It is a museum that makes you want to spend for a long time indulging in contemplation. Tourists with limited time may feel a dilemma.

A common thought that people who visit the D.T. Suzuki Museum have is, "How wonderful it would be if I were the only visitor."