Izu no Chohachi Art Museum

Izu no Chohachi Museum of Art Digital Archive Site

[Izu no Chohachi Art Museum[Work Database] 　

We regularly showcase the works of master plasterer Irie Chohachi.

*The artwork may be changed without notice.

Plaster Art Hall - Izu no Chohachi Art Museum

Events

Announcement of “26th National Plaster Art Competition Exhibition”　

Plaster Art works by contemporary artists from all over Japan will be gathered at Chohachi Museum of Art!

From Friday, October 2nd to Saturday, October 31st, 2026, the "26th National Plaster Art Competition Exhibition" will be held in the special exhibition room of the Chohachi Museum of Art in Izu. This year's exhibition is packed with wonderful works, so please take this opportunity to experience Plaster Art.

On the second floor of the Folk Art Museum, which is adjacent to the Chohachi Museum, 16 works that were selected as honorable mentions will be exhibited on the same day.

Please be sure to check this out as well.

*Closed on ThursdaysPlease be careful when you go out.

Announcement of Night at the Museum ✩2026✩

This year's Night Museum will be held on Saturday, October 17th from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM ☆彡

[Izu no Chohachi Museum Night Museum 2026]

Step into a world of light and shadow woven by Plaster Art. Enjoy a truly special moment.

Night at the MuseumFree admission!

Date: Saturday, October 17th　

Time: 17: 00 to 20: 00

　　　*Normal rates apply between 9:00 and 17:00.

[We will be exhibiting works being shown for the first time.]　

In March 2026, thanks to the generosity of Yamakoso, a former long-established inn in Matsuzaki Town, three masterpieces by Chohachi Irie—"Winter Peony," "Treasure Turtle," and "Daruma Daishi"—were donated to the town. They will be on display for a limited time starting October 17th.

Please feel free to visit us.

Announcement of Summer Experience Classes

"Let's play in Matsuzaki!! Summer 2026"

"Let's Play in Matsuzaki!! Summer 2026" will be held from August 8th (Sat) to August 15th (Sat), 2026.

*The museum will be open on Thursday, August 13th.

Various hands-on classes are available at the Izu Chohachi Museum of Art and the Important Cultural Property Iwaka School.

Please check the schedule on the flyer and join us!

≪Annual Trial Class Schedule≫

[Spring Experience Classes] Late March to early April

[Early Summer Experience Class] Golden Week

[Summer Experience Classes] Mid-August

[Winter Experience Classes] Late December to early January

Further details will be announced on our website and other platforms.

[Submissions Now Open] The 26th National Plaster Art Competition Exhibition

Matsuzaki Town, a town of flowers and romance and the hometown of Irie Chohachi, a master craftsman of Plaster Art, will be holding the 26th National Plaster Art Competition. We are looking for works that build upon Chohachi's tradition, or works that showcase free ideas and techniques befitting the new era.

Application deadline: Wednesday, July 31, 2026

For inquiries, please contact the Planning and Tourism Division of Matsuzaki Town Hall: Tel. 0558-42-3964

Please see the flyer below for details.

Announcement of Golden Week Experience Workshops

"Let's have fun in Matsuzaki!! 2026 Golden Week"

We will be holding "Let's Play in Matsuzaki!! 2026 Golden Week" from Saturday, April 25th, 2026 to Wednesday, May 6th, 2026 (National Holiday).

*Please note that although the museum will be open on Thursday, April 30th, the hands-on workshops will not be held.

Various hands-on classes are available at the Izu Chohachi Museum of Art and the Important Cultural Property Iwaka School.

Please check the experience schedule and come join us!

≪Annual Trial Class Schedule≫

[Spring Experience Classes] Late March to early April

[Early Summer Experience Class] Golden Week

[Summer Experience Classes] Mid-August

[Winter Experience Classes] Late December to early January

Further details will be announced on our website and other platforms.

First1 2 3 4 5Last

Information on business hours

◆Opening hours 9:00-17:00

*Last admission accepted at 16:30

◆Closed every Thursday
*If Thursday is a holiday, the museum will be closed on the weekday immediately before that day.
*Open from 12/29 to 1/3, 4/29 to 5/5, and 8/13 to 8/15.
*In addition, the museum may be temporarily closed or opened.

◆Admission fee Adults 500 yen [Junior high school students and younger are free] ・Matsuzaki townspeople free ※Please show your ID.

　 *For groups of 20 or more, the adult admission fee will be reduced from 500 yen to 400 yen.

*If you have a disability certificate, the entrance fee will be halved for you and one accompanying person upon presentation of your disability certificate.

(Discount tickets, coupons, etc. cannot be used together.)

Information

Japan's premier plaster art museum

“Izu Chohachi was a master plasterer of Edo who was unparalleled before and after him. The sculptor Koun Takamura later remarked that Chohachi was a master, because the tip worked so well.

　Chohachi Irie called himself Tenyu or Kendo, and was born on Meiji １２/８/５ in Akechi, Matsuzaki Village, Izu Province. His father was Hyousuke and his mother Tegoto was the eldest son of a poor farmer. Due to his natural dexterity with his hands, he aspired to use his arms in the future, and at the age of １２ he became an apprentice to Seki Nisuke, the master plasterer of the same village. He went out and learned painting from Kita Busei of Kano School at the age of １９. At the same time, he mastered the art of sculpting and applied it to the work of plasterers, painting pictures with plaster or sculpting and applying brilliant colors, opening up new ideas and finally completing Chohachi's unique art. Chohachi, who was ２６ years old at the time, was selected for the reconstruction of the Fudo-do Hall in Kayabacho, Nihonbashi. He drew it and gained fame as a master.

Chohachi's plaster art is highly acclaimed in the art world as a mural painting technique that rivals Western frescoes. Both are techniques of painting on wet plaster material. Fresco creates a solid picture by scientifically fusing the plaster surface and pigment solution, while Chohachi uses a special method to create a base and add color. It is a trowel painting that can be freely used, and has the advantage of being used in combination with thin engraving.
　In this way, the museum has collected about ５０ of Chohachi's precious representative works in two exhibition halls.

Postmodern, where the past and the present intersect

Osamu Ishiyama (architect), the creator of the Chohachi Museum, describes his encounter with this town as "a miraculous encounter."I would like the general public to know about Chohachi Irie, a master trowel and plaster craftsman from Matsuzaki, Izu, and to know the wonderfulness of traditional plastering techniques as an architect.
This spirit resonated with the Matsuzaki town revitalization project, and the Chohachi Museum of Art was born. Many excellent technicians gathered from all over the country, and the art of plastering is sprinkled everywhere in the building that makes use of traditional plastering techniques. It is now attracting attention as a world-class building.

　Mr. Osamu Ishiyama, who designed the Chohachi Museum, was awarded the Isoya Yoshida Prize, which is said to be the Akutagawa Prize of the architectural world, and became the 10th winner. This is a testament to the techniques inherited from ancient times by the many plasterers who participated in the construction, as well as new construction methods, which we can say are universally accepted.

<Details of plastering>
▽ Outer wall = color roll
▽ External waist = Namako Wall
▽Garden exterior wall = Tosa plaster
▽External skirting board = artificial stone washing
▽Front entrance wall = artreribo
▽Internal ceiling = white wall, sun art
▽ Internal wall = same as before
▽ Round column = ricin scraping clear
▽Aisle floor = Goshiki stone and cobble stone shrubbery
▽Dome ceiling = Ceiling stucco sculpture

Introduction of exhibited works

"Prostitute Fugen Bodhisattva"

Early Meiji era　

Approximately 150 years after its creation, the trop-e work "Prostitute Fugen Bosatsu" by Gen Chohachio is on display in the permanent exhibition room.

Please take a look at "Prostitute Fugen Bosatsu", which is called Chohachio's masterpiece.

　The figure painted with wood heart plaster on the horizontal forehead of about two feet and two inches and about one foot and four inches depicts a courtesan riding on the back of a white elephant with six tusks, wearing a gorgeous vermillion kimono and a white haori covering her shoulders. It is a picture of reading a long rolled letter, which may be a love letter.The harmony between the thin-fleshed prostitute and the white elephant, and the skillful use of ultramarine blue in the background is wonderful, and is Chohachi's representative masterpiece.

(Excerpt from "Master Craftsman Izu Chohachiden" by Kinjiro Shiratori)

Exhibition period: From Reiwa 4/10 to the whole year

"Ebisu Daikokuten Statue"

Bunkyu 2 (1862) 48 years old　

In the permanent exhibition room, Chohachio's sculpture "Ebisu Daikokuten Statue" is open to the public. Chohachi created many statues of Daikokuten in Ebisu in his later years, but this work was created when Chohachi was young.

Exhibition period: From Reiwa 4/7 to the whole year