Tottori Sand Museum


The Tottori Sand Museum was opened on November 18, 2006, in Tottori, Japan, close to the Tottori Sand Dunes, displaying sand sculptures in temporary facilities. On April 14, 2012, it reopened as the world's first permanent indoor exhibition space dedicated to sand art, exhibiting works by fifteen international sculptors.
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History

The local tourism officer of the Tottori Sand Dunes, Shinji Tsutsui, was passionate about the Italian Renaissance, and invited the sand sculptor Katsuhiko Chaen to create a sand exhibit on that theme in 2006.
The first exhibit took place in November 2006. The first exhibits took place in a tent. In 2012, a permanent 21,000-square building, located around 20 minutes from the sand dunes, became the home of the exhibit.
The museum won the 2021 TripAdvisor's choice award for places to visit.

Description

Each yearly exhibit starts in April and lasts until January of the following year. The sand sculptures are then deliberately destroyed and a new exhibit is prepared from January to April. The sand sculptor Katsuhiko Chaen is the chief sculptor. Despite the museum's close proximity to the sand dunes, that sand cannot be used because the sand dunes are part of a protected national park. The sand comes from a road building project, and the same sand is reused each year. Only sand and water is used to create the sculptures. The museum's motto is "Travel around the World in Sand", and the exhibit is themed around a different country or geographical area each year.