Best Art Museums around Tokyo and Surroundings Spot List

Hakone Garasunomori Museum, or the Venetian Glass Museum in Hakone, is the first museum of this kind in Japan. The glass exhibitions that change each season are worth seeing.

Lalique Museum, Hakone exhibits about 230 pieces of French artist, René Lalique (1860-1945) who created precious jewelry in Art Nouveau style, and beautiful objects in glass during Art Deco period.

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum is in Ueno Park. Special exhibitions of domestic and foreign famous paintings, variety of planned exhibitions, and exhibitions of works by the general public are held there.

A museum where you can relax surrounded by rich greenery. It positions art as a ”sustenance of mental health.”

This is Japan's only national art museum, where you can view various Western artworks, including the Matsukata collection, which mainly consists of French artworks.

A museum specializing in nihonga (Japanese paintings) with a collection of about 1,800 works consisting mainly of modern and contemporary Japanese paintings. It holds various special exhibitions as well.

A museum inside the building of Tokyo University of the Arts, the best out of all the art universities in Japan. It stores approximately 29,000 items of mainly Japanese modern arts.

A building that is in itself a work of art. An art center where you can enjoy a variety of art exhibitions.

This museum offers both beauty and healing surrounded by the nature of Hakone. A giant mural of wind god Fujin and thunder god Raijin can be appreciated while soaking your feet in an ashi-yu footbath.

In addition to the museum's various themed exhibitions and displays of Japanese modern and contemporary artworks, the location is also attractive due to the scenery that has made the place known as the museum with a superb view and rich natural environment.

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.

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.

Pola Museum of Art, built in the forests of Hakone, is a glass-encased space where you can enjoy art and nature together.

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.

This art museum is located in the residential area of Shoto, Shibuya Ward. It features a unique, beautiful facade by architect Seiichi Shirai.

The Tokyo Station Gallery is a museum located in an Important Cultural Property, Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building. Exhibitions and events in a variety of themes are held there.

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

It is an art museum in Marunouchi that holds Japanese contemporary art oriented exhibitions.

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 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.