Regardless of your interests, you can bet that Tokyo has a museum that will tickle your fancy. For those who want to be in the know, let us be your guide to the best museums in Tokyo. Afterall, whether you’re a visitor or a local, Tokyo museums shouldn’t be an afterthought or an activity reserved solely for rainy days.

Tokyo has a wealth of museums giving glimpses into Japan’s rich and diverse history, and for those who are more contemporary-minded, Tokyo has a prolific artistic community too. And that’s without mentioning the museums dedicated to cutting-edge technology, celebrating Japan’s pop culture, or other, even more unusual things. From art to history, to science and pop culture, here’s our ultimate round up of the best Tokyo museums.

Tokyo museums: The basics

So, before we dive in let’s cover some basics about museums in Tokyo. First things first, when are museums in Tokyo open? Well, for the most part museums in Tokyo open around 9 or 10 a.m. and close around 5 or 6 p.m. Except for special events, museums in Tokyo aren’t usually open late. Most museums also have one or two regular closing days — usually Monday or Tuesday. Some open on national holidays, but others don’t.

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When it comes to language support, it’s common for big museums to have English information available. After English, Korean and Chinese language support are next most common. Some museums have foreign language audio guides or audio guide apps — but you often need to bring your own headphones.

Finally, etiquette. Many museums provide lockers for storing backpacks and bulky items — use them. Sure, it might cost a few hundred yen, but it saves you bumping and jostling other guests. The lockers, like other luggage storage in Tokyo, are very secure. Also, make sure to follow each museum’s rules. There is always ample signage showing if you can/can’t take photos and touch displays, and even signs showing the route.

Buying museum tickets in Tokyo

There two main ways to buy museum tickets in Tokyo — in person or online. However, not all museums offer both, so it pays to check in advance.

When you buy tickets in person, you’ll either get them from a manned ticket counter or a ticket vending machine. At manned ticket counters, you buy the ticket directly from a staff member — who may or may not speak English. Most ticket counters will accept cash, and some will accept credit cards or e-money as well. Ticket vending machines sometimes have buttons to change the display langauge, but often only take cash.

Buying tickets online is a whole other affair, with individual museums often having different systems. Broadly speaking, you either buy a ticket online through a museum’s official website, or through a third-party provider like Klook. Then, you’ll either receive an e-ticket or a ticket voucher that you’ll need to redeem at a ticket counter or vending machine for a physical ticket. In most cases, you can pay for your online ticket with a credit card or e-money, but in some cases you’ll need to pay at a convenience store. Again, all this depends a lot on individual museums.

Many museums small discounts if you buy your ticket online. And more importantly, some museums are so popular that their tickets have to be bought online months in advance — we’re looking at you, Ghibli Museum.

Discounts and passes for Tokyo museums

So, what about saving money? Well, there are few ways you can save money on tickets for Tokyo museums. The first way is to hunt for discounts. There are a whole bunch of different discounts floating around that vary between museums, but some of the most common ones are:

  • Online discounts: As we mentioned earlier, some museums offer discounts if you buy tickets online. The savings are usually only a few hundred yen
  • Student discounts: These are for students at Japanese high schools, vocational colleges, or universities. Occasionally, these discounts are extended to foreign university students. You will always be asked to show your student ID. Student discounts can range from a few hundred yen to 50% off
  • Child or senior discounts: There are often discounted prices for children (under 12) and seniors (over 60). You may need to show ID or a seniors’ card, although foreign seniors’ cards might not be accepted. These discounts are usually half price. Sometimes, especially for young children (under 3), entry can be free
  • Discounts for those with disabilities: These discounts are normally for one person with a disability and one accompanying carer. Often, you will need to show a disability certificate, but unfortunately foreign documents might not be accepted. This discount gives free entry to both the person with a disability and one carer
  • Group discounts: These are usually for big groups — we’re talking 10, 15, or 20+ people. The discount varies, but might work out to a few hundred yen per person
  • Partner organization/package discounts: Some museums might team up with other nearby museums or attractions to offer discounts. A few hundred yen off if you show your ticket from a participating attraction, or package tickets for several attractions are common

There are also several passes that give free or discounted entry to participating museums. These include the Grutto Pass, the Tokyo Pass, and the Ticket of Museums around Tokyo Station.

Edo Toyko Museum (Temporarily closed)

¥600 for adults
Ryogoku

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Edo-Tokyo Museum
Edo Tokyo Museum | Photo by Gregory Lane

As its name suggests, the Edo-Tokyo Museum has as its particular focus studying the history of Japan’s Edo/Tokugawa era (1603-1868).  A massive warehouse-like space with a ceiling height of 62.2 meters, the Edo-Tokyo Museum has, as one of its main attractions, a life-size replica of Nihonbashi Bridge. This bridge leads down to a miniature model of Edo City as it would have looked during the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate. Go down to the fifth floor and you’ll find Nakamura Theater, featuring scheduled performances by entertainers singing and juggling objects to the delight of visitors.

The permanent exhibition of Edo-Tokyo Museum also includes an area giving comprehensive information on the transition of Tokyo into an industrialized city, as well as its increasing westernization during the Meiji period. The ‘Tokyo Zone’ also includes sections on the Great Kanto Earthquake and its aftermath, including the massive reconstruction efforts involved in the rehabilitation of Tokyo.

Edo Tokyo Museum | Photo by Grigoris Miliaresis

Complimentary services at the Edo-Tokyo Museum include volunteer guides, but it is recommended that you reserve this at least two weeks prior to your planned visit. There is also a reference library located on the 7th floor for all those TC bookworms out there.

Tokyo National Museum

¥620 for adults
Ueno

The Tokyo National Museum has a number of special exhibitions organized each year, upcoming exhibits include Unkie: The Great Master of Buddhist Sculpture (Sept 26th – Nov 26th) and  Treasures from Ninnaji Temple and Omuro (Jan 16th 2018 – March 11th 2018).  The permanent collection at the Tokyo National Museum is no less interesting, with artifacts from the Three Kingdoms Period (5th-6th centuries) and statues of the Buddha from within and outside of Japan being some of its priceless items.

Entry to the museum for its permanent exhibitions is ¥620 for adults, although admission is free on International Museum Day (usually May 18) and Respect for the Aged Day (the third Monday of September).

Cheapo tip: If you absolutely LOVE the museums, you can get a ¥5,000 annual pass that offers unlimited entry to the regular exhibition at Tokyo National Museum (along with the national museums in Kyoto, Nara and Kyushu) + 4 tickets to special exhibitions at the TNM. You can apply online for it here.

National Museum Tokyo
National Museum Tokyo | Photo by Gregory Lane

National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo (MOMAT)

¥430
Kudanshita

Visiting MOMAT is an absolute must for fans of 20th-century art. MOMAT provides glimpses into some of this century’s most iconic aesthetic movements, featuring works by the likes of the Dutch abstract expressionist, Willem de Kooning (Woman in Landscape, 1966), and the polymorphic, wild, and lurid shapes characteristic of Wassily Kandinsky’s later paintings (The Whole, 1940).

Get up close and personal with Walker Evans’ arresting Depression-era photographs of working-class families from Alabama (Interior of Floyd Burroughs’ Cabin, Alabama, 1936) and witness the hauntingly desolate and near-apocalyptic landscapes of the Australian outback by Arthur Boyd (The Australian Scapegoat, 1987). The museum also demonstrates the influence of Western contemporary artists on Japanese artists and vice versa, featuring numerous works by the multimedia artist Yayoi Kusama (A Signpost to Hades, 1976), and the surrealist Ai-Mitsu (Moths, 1941, and Landscape with an Eye, 1938).

MOMAT is also home to Japan’s National Film Center (NFC), which, in addition to its vast collection of film-related materials, holds regular film screenings. The Crafts Gallery is also part of MOMAT, displaying ceramics, textiles, and other designs by local and other artists from the 19th-century to the present day.

National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

¥500 for adults
Ueno

The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo  offers free admission for visitors on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, as well as on November 3 of every year (permanent collection only). Unlike its sister museum, MOMAT, which gives the floor to emerging as well as contemporary celebrities of the artistic world, the National Museum of Western Art presents works by preeminent masters spanning nearly 800 years of art in Western culture. You’ll find exemplars of pointillism in the form of Camille Pissarro’s Conversation (1881), one of Claude Monet’s Water Lilies paintings (1916), and Baroque masterpieces such as Peter Paul Rubens’ Two Sleeping Children (1612-13) in the Museum’s permanent collection.

National Museum of Western Art
National Museum of Western Art | Photo by Gregory Lane

Ghibli Museum

¥1,000 for adults
Mitaka

The whimsical narratives, anthropomorphic creatures, and intricately-rendered animations of Hayao Miyazaki are cherished by many. The Ghibli Museum is your chance to enter the fantastical world of Miyazaki’s films in a building that is nestled in the verdant scenery of Inokashira Park, Mitaka.

Ghibli Museum
Photo by Adriana Paradiso

Immerse yourself in Miyazaki’s artistic process by entering his workshop, aptly called ‘Where a Film Is Born’. Here you will find numerous stills and storyboards from his films, including Princess Mononoke and Ponyo. Become mesmerized by the Totoro zoetrope on the ground floor and wind your way up to the rooftop garden via the internal iron staircase. Once on top of the roof, get a picture of yourself with the massive Robot Soldier and the command cube, both from [Laputa] Castle in the Sky. There is also a life-size replica of the Cat Bus from My Neighbor Totoro, which children can enjoy!

Visitors receive as part of their admission package entry into the Saturn Theater, where they can watch a short animated feature by Studio Ghibli. Entry into the Ghibli Museum costs ¥1,000 for adults, and you can purchase tickets from Lawson convenience stores via their ‘Loppi’ kiosk machine or their online service, as well as through travel guides if coming from abroad. There are no ticket sales at the museum itself, so be sure to get them well in advance.

Ghibli Museum robot
Photo by Adriana Paradiso

Mori Art Museum

¥1,000 for adults
Roppongi

The Mori Art Museum always has a schedule that is jam-packed with exhibitions by some of the most exciting artists on the contemporary (and old!) scene. For example, the current exhibition titled “SUNSHOWER: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now” has an incredible selection of works displaying the dynamic and diverse culture of Southeast Asia. It is the largest ever exhibition of its kind  explores the many practices of contemporary art  and showcases the dynamism and nostalgic combination the area holds. You can buy an advance joint ticket for the Mori Art Museum and the National Art Center for ¥1,600, on the day for ¥1,800 or a single ticket for ¥1,000.

MIRAIKAN

¥620
Odaiba

Learn more about our world and outer space by visiting the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. Created by the national Science and Technology Agency, Miraikan’s permanent exhibitions are divided according to three zones, each of which demonstrates how human beings interact with the built, information, and natural environments. Highlights include the ‘Geo-Cosmos’, a 1/2 millionth-size replica of the Earth created by organic LED panels and the humanoid robot ‘ASIMO’, the ‘Science Communicator’ of Miraikan. Be sure to walk through the full-scale model of the ‘Shinkai 6500,’ a manned research submersible which is used to explore the ocean at depths of 200 meters and beyond.

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation
Photo by Lucy Dayman

National Art Center

Varies according to the exhibition
Roppongi

Unlike other museums that are part of the Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art, the National Art Center does not have any permanent collections; instead, it is a museum which uses its 14,000 square meters of space to host various displays and exhibits throughout the year.

If you want to see ALL OF THE MUSEUMS EVER, take a few minutes to find out what the Grutt Pass is — it could save you many yens.

This article was originally published in March 2015. Last update: Sept 2017.

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Filed under: Art | Museums And Exhibitions
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