Best Museums around Tokyo and Surroundings Spot List

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.)

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

Nippon Camera Hakubutsu-kan or the JCII Camera Museum is a museum operated by the Japan Camera Industry Institute, and you can have fun learning and familiarizing yourself with cameras by looking at and touching cameras. There are more than 300 cameras on display.

*Currently closed

Daimyo Tokei Hakubutsu-kan, or Daimyo Clock Museum, is the museum of the Edo period's art and craftwork, daimyo clocks (Japanese clocks), and is located in the popular Yanaka area in the shitamachi (the geographically lower side) of Tokyo.

The museum displays valuable handicrafts and folk crafts, mainly Japanese antique ceramics and dyed or woven textiles that were selected by Japanese philosopher Yanagi Muneyoshi, collected from Japan and overseas.

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.

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Expedition (1853－1854), which paved the way to the opening of Japan, and the history leading to it through dioramas and historical documents.

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.

Established in accordance with the wishes of the business tycoon, Kaichiro Nezu, after his death. Antique works of art from Japan and the rest of Asia can be enjoyed here. It also has a Japanese garden with tea houses.

A museum relaunched in spring 2021 integrates the activities of the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art (closed in 2021) and its annex Hara Museum ARC

Museum of Yebisu Beer will teach you the history and the way to enjoy Yebisu beer at the birthplace of Yebisu beer.

This is one of the three greatest commemorative ships in the world. It has been preserved as a symbol of the nation’s pride that attained the victory in the naval battle for defending national independence.

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

Yokohama Museum of Art is considered a symbol of the Minato Mirai 21 area. It consists of seven exhibition rooms and has a collection of over 110,000 books. It is one of the largest museums in Japan.

A museum where you can enjoy contemporary sculpture in the sleek, hexagonal main building and the four outdoor exhibition areas.

A museum located on the fourth floor of Panasonic Tokyo Shiodome Building. 230 pieces by Georges Rouault, a representative artist of the 20th century, are shown at this museum.

This is a hands-on train museum that is enjoyable for both adults and children. An operation simulator that uses an actual operator's seat is popular.

Museum with vast premises covering some 30 hectares. Nature that makes you the feel the season, rooms that match the exhibitions, and the buildings themselves are all worth checking out.

Located inside the Yugawara Tourist Hall, this museum exhibits the works and information panels of various writers and artists who have visited Yugawara since the Meiji era, such as Doppo Kunikida, Soseki Natsume , Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Akiko Yosano, Toson Shimazaki, and Junichiro Tanizaki. It also features a walking map for sights connected to Yugawara’s literary history, a brief history of modern literature in Yugawara, as well as panels of photos showing Yugawara in the past and present, and temples, shrines and stone statues. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 10 minutes We are right next to the Ochiaibashi bus stop