Best Museums 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.

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

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.

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.

It is a historical museum where you can learn about the Chiba clan, who made the foundation and historical contribution to Chiba City. From the observation deck, you can see a magnificent view of Chiba City.

Built in 1933, this large museum is the second old municipal art museum in Japan. The collection extends to about 3,300 pieces centered on Kyoto artists from the modern to contemporary period. The museum holds art exhibitions such as Nitten (the largest competition art exhibition in Japan) as well as events organized by fine art associations.

Sharing a new art culture from Aomori

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?

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.)

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.

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.

Artworks that blend in well with traditional Japanese houses are displayed

Holds many exhibitions and shows by artists connected to Nerima. A community-based art museum beloved by locals.

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 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.

Loved by bird watchers, a spot to photograph Japanese cranes

Learn about the nature, history, and culture of Kawayu at this facility

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

Check out an Ageya (elegant-restaurant) of the red-light district from the Edo period

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.