Best Museums around Tokyo and Surroundings Spot List

A museum introducing Edo hanabi (fireworks) and brimming with the atmosphere of the era.

A museum specializing in Japanese swords. Some 190 items including swords, mountings and fittings, armor, and information on metalwork.

The Science Museum allows people of all ages to see, touch, and experience science. A variety of workshops held every day are also appealing.

This is a grand-scale building that stands on a corner of the land where the Sakura Castle used to be. The museum's exhibition is presented so that visitors can easily understand Japanese history.

A thought-provoking museum about the history, culture and social role of currency.

This art museum houses many pieces of artwork, mainly paintings, woodblock prints, sculptures, and others that were created by the hands of artists who have a tie with Kawagoe.

It succeeds in recreating the model of railway trains down to the last detail by utilizing authentic railway technology. The museum of Nobutaro Hara's model railway and his collection.

The museum exhibits precious fossils of prehistoric life and a large diorama replicated the forests of Saitama. It is a museum where you can learn the 300 million years of the natural history of the prefecture.

Founded by Kunio Kobayashi, the notable bonsai (potted plant) creator. Artistic bonsai are in line with each other at the Japanese garden. You can also purchase some of them.

Reproduces the streets of Fukagawa Saga-cho in the Edo Period so visitors can see the scene and lifestyle of that period.

It is a museum where the Japanese maritime history can be learned from videos and valuable displays. The NYK Maritime Museum widely introduces the history of marine vessels along with the history of Nippon Yusen as a company. (NYK stands for Nippon Yusen Kaisha, a shipping company.)

The Sogo Museum of Art is located inside a department store that is directly connected with Yokohama Station. You can enjoy both shopping and art at the same time.

Currently under renovation, and plans to reopen in the autumn of 2016. One of the few museums worldwide focusing on photography and film.

This art museum, which opened its doors in 1983, is out of ordinary among other museums in Tokyo. Located in the middle of the city, the museum harmonizes its art exhibitions, which utilize the former official residence of Asaka-no-miya (a branch of the Japanese Imperial Family) constructed in the early Showa period employing an Art Deco style, and the lushly green garden. After improvement of the old building, and an extension for a gallery and a cafe was added, the museum was re-opened in November 2014. In front of the art museum, there is a wide spread of lawn. You can put down a mat and eat your meal on this lawn.

This museum is dedicated to ukiyo-e. It houses one of the largest collections in the world.

A history museum featuring precious cultural artifacts from the Kamakura Era.

An art center open to all where you can enjoy exhibitions, workshops, and a variety of other events.

This is a museum built on the site where the Kawagoe Castle used to stand. Through various exhibitions, the museum explains how the people in the castle town lived.

The museum has the ancient Orient as its theme. Visitors can learn about the hunting and gathering life of 5,000 years ago as well as the invention of writing.

The Perry Memorial Hall is a museum that illustrates the Perry Expedition (1853－1854), which paved the way to the opening of Japan, and the history leading to it through dioramas and historical documents.