Best Museums around Tokyo and Surroundings Spot List

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.

A museum exhibiting works of art under the theme of pumpkins, with a focus on the work of world-famous artist Yayoi Kusama. The museum also has a cafe. [Yayoi Kusama] A painter, avant-garde sculptor and novelist born in Nagano. She began painting pictures based on hallucinations she had in her early childhood. She went to the USA in 1957 and stayed in New York for 18 years, and has also represented Japan at Venice Biennial in 1993. After her retrospective exhibition tour around the US, she held a large-scale, one-woman exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, in 1999. In 2001, she won the Asahi Prize. Her work has appeared at the Yokohama Triennale. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 5 minutes We are five minutes' walk from the Shogakko-Mae bus stop

The artist Kyotaro Nishimura visited Yugawara to rest and recuperate, and he was so enchanted by its climate and people that he decided to live here. The Nishimura Kyotaro Museum was opened in honor of him. In addition to more than 300 of his creations, we also exhibit items that represent his life as a writer, including handwritten manuscripts, large dioramas and his secret collection. Please stop by and get a new insight into the life and work of Kyotaro Nishimura. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 5 minutes We are three minutes' walk from the Shogakko-Mae bus stop

Japan's only sex museum, with full of humor.

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

A historic building representing the Showa era. Its location within one kilometer of Ginza makes it easily accessible before or after shopping.

We display works created by people who have been designated as important intangible cultural properties, otherwise known as ”living national treasures.” We have a permanent special exhibition on the recent works of ceramic artist Morihiro Hosokawa. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Kajiya for about 5 minutes We are located right next to the Yamazaki bus stop

This is a museum where visitors can trace the changes in Chinese kanji characters and their shapes from the pre-Christian time to the present through its collection of valuable cultural properties.

In 1998, an old Japanese inn was renovated and opened as the Yugawara Art Museum. We exhibit works by artists with a connection to Yugawara, such as Seiho Takeuchi, Sotaro Yasui, and Kokki Miyake. In the Reiji Hiramatsu Hall, Reiji Hiramatsu, one of Japan's leading artists, is currently creating an exhibition provisionally titled ”Ten Scenes of Yugawara.” In addition to viewing his works, the atelier where he creates his works is also open to the public. In the Japanese garden connected to the museum you can view seasonal flowers and ”Monet’s water lilies,” which were grown from water lily bulbs given to Reiji Hiramatsu by the Fondation Claude Monet. In the museum's cafe ”And Garden,” you can relax with food and tea while enjoying a fine view of the garden. Please enjoy appreciating great art in our peaceful, soothing museum. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 12 minutes We are right next to the Bijutsukan-Mae bus stop.

This museum conserves and exhibits arts collected by the Sumitomo family, with its main building located in Shishiga-tani, Kyoto. The collection is composed of various and diverse items, such as modern Japanese and Western paintings, modern pottery and chinaware, tea utensils, and Noh masks and costumes collected from the middle of the Meiji era to Taisho era. Despite being in the middle of Roppongi, it is surrounded by greenery and is a quiet environment, which lets you forget about time and appreciate the arts to your heart's content.

This museum is linked to the Yotsuya Fire Department. Here you can see exhibits of actual equipment, including the first fire engine introduced to Japan in 1917, as well as the helitack first brought into the Tokyo Fire Department. In addition, you can sit in the helitack set up outside. Why not try considering some disaster prevention?

This museum exhibits the history of Japanese advertisements from the Edo period to the present. In addition to the poster exhibits, they also have a TV commercial and AV area, so you will certainly be able to feel the thrill of experiencing Japan's past through its advertising. They have also established a library with a collection of advertisements and marketing-related materials.

This museum was established in March 2003 with 3 designers, Issei Miyake (fashion designer), Taku Sato (graphic designer), and Naoto Fukazawa (product designer) as its directors and Noriko Kawakami, a journalist and editor, as its associate director. Not only does it offer exhibitions, but it also offers various programs such as talks and workshops with a concept of ”becoming a venue where day-to-day perspectives and views can be proposed.” The building with a symbolic roof created with an image of ”one sheet of fabric” was designed by Tadao Ando, an architect.

A hall built in remembrance of Mamoru Shigemitsu, a former foreign minister who was the government representative who signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on the US battleship Missouri. It showcases his career as a diplomat and politician, using photos, videos and other materials. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 20 minutes We are a five-minute walk from the Okuyugawara bus stop

We are a privately-owned modern art museum opened in November 1988. We have a range of exhibitions, mainly of oil paintings, but also sketches, photos, sculptures, objets d’art and other works. The museum encourages visitors to engage with art through the experience of not only looking at, but also touching and moving the items on exhibit, or making them produce sounds. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Kajiya for about 15 minutes We are seven minutes' walk from the Kajiya bus stop

We exhibit artworks produced through the use of fire, including antique chinaware and swords, that were collected by the Doctor of Engineering Kazuyoshi Kimura and his wife Doctor of Science Kinuko Kimura based on their conviction that ”the light and heat of the flame brings out the function and beauty of an object, while at the same time creating the beauty and culture that will last the longest in this world.” Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Kajiya for about 5 minutes We are a two-minute walk north from the Miyato-Bashi bus stop

On February 26, 1936, this site was part of an attempted coup d'état unparalleled of in modern Japanese history. Kofuso is the only location linked to the February 26 Incident outside of Tokyo. Kofuso was a former property of Itouya, a traditional old Japanese inn, and it is now used to exhibit items related to that period such as items belonging to residents, photos, and newspapers. Guided tours are given by volunteers (reservations are required for weekday tours). Open on Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays Business hours: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (last entrance at 2:30 p.m.) Reservations required for weekday visits (please book at least one week in advance) *We are open on every year on February 26. No reservations required. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Okuyugawara or Fudo-Taki for about 12 minutes We are one minute's walk from the Koen Iriguchi bus stop