Photos: KENPEI · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ajax · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert · CC BY 4.0 (3, 4, 5)
Sayamaike was built around 616 and is Japan's oldest dam-type reservoir, repaired over the centuries by Gyōki, Chōgen and Katagiri Katsumoto. Tadao Ando's prefectural museum displays a cut-through section of the earthen dam and old wooden sluices.
Why it's unique
Sayamaike is Japan's oldest dam-type reservoir, and the museum lets you walk past a real cross-section of its earthen dam.
It is also a Tadao Ando building you can actually enter, now that the Church of the Light is closed to visits.
Before you go
The galleries reopened on 1 September 2026 after a year closed for ceiling work.
Walk the 3 km rim afterwards; volunteers run guided walks.
