The best museums in Tokyo run the gamut from cutting-edge contemporary art showcases to one of the most interactive science museums in the world. The Japanese capital is home to more than 100 museums, meaning there’s something for every type of traveler to explore. Families with children—or just parents in touch with their inner child—will want to head straight for the Ghibli Museum, while history buffs should check out the Edo-Tokyo Museum.
Tokyo museums encompass creative gallery spaces such as teamLab Borderless, a delirium-inducing piece of digital art. You’ll find more contemporary works at the National Museum of Modern Art and the Yayoi Kusama Gallery. Meanwhile, if you’re looking to see stunning examples of traditional woodblock prints, you’ll find those as well.
Tokyo National Museum
Tokyo National Museum
If you’re looking to dive into the history and culture that Tokyo is known for, the Tokyo National Museum is a terrific place to start. Here you’ll find authentic samurai katanas in pristine condition, not to mention gorgeously embroidered kimonos and yukatas. There’s a borderline overwhelming amount to see here, but everything is laid out in an approachably organized fashion.
One of the best things about the Tokyo National Museum is that it is never static. Even if this is your third or fourth visit to the Japanese capital, you’ll find something new here. That’s because the museum has more than 110,000 objects and artifacts in its collection. Exhibits rotate regularly in order to bring forth new material from the vault.
Ghibli Museum
Ghibli Museum
Since founding Studio Ghibli in 1985, visionary director Hayao Miyazaki has delighted millions of children and adults around the world. His dream-like, surrealist works show a rare gift for world-building that speaks across cultures and generations. If you grew up with Kiki astride her broom or marveled at Chihiro Ogino’s mystical journey, the Ghibli Museum is for you.
Entering the Ghibli Museum feels like stepping into one of Miyazaki’s fantastical films. That’s because the director leant his personal creative touch to almost every aspect of the space. Walk through Inokashira Park until you come to what appears to be a colorful villa covered in vines. Once inside, it’s easy to wander through the winding hallways. The slogan here is “Let’s get lost together,” after all.
Ghibli Museum
Fans will find all sorts of Easter eggs lurking on these premises. From the Catbus to the giant Robot Soldier sculpture, cameos by popular characters abound. There’s also a small cinema perpetually showing a Studio Ghibli movie only available at the museum. The attention to detail is what really makes this place—absolutely every room fits the inventive aesthetic. Even the on-site Straw Hat Café feels wonderfully whimsical.
There’s only one real catch: the Ghibli Museum is one of the most popular attractions in Tokyo. To make sure visitors have the best possible experience, entry is extremely limited. To get your hands on one of those coveted tickets—made of 35 mm film—you’ll have to plan ahead.
Lawson Tickets, run by a Japanese chain convenience store, is the only distributor and releases tickets on the 10th of each month for the following month. The tickets drop at 10 a.m. Japan time, which means you’ll want to be logged in and ready to go at least half an hour before then. It’s a hassle, to be sure, but it’s worth it for a truly immersive, singular experience.
teamLab Borderless
teamLab Borderless
If any of your friends have been to Tokyo in the last few years, the chances are high that you’ve seen photos of them posing in this surreal, immersive digital art space in Odaiba. There’s a good reason why teamLab Borderless is perpetually booked out. Walking through room after room of these mesmerizing, moving images is nothing short of dazzling.
The art collective teamLab, which was started by Toshiyuki Inoko and Shunsuke Aoki, consists of engineers, animators, and all sorts of digital artists. They have a number of permanent and temporary exhibitions around the world, but their Tokyo masterpiece is really spectacular.
It might be tempting to write teamLab Borderless off as just another piece of Instagram bait, but this space is truly so much more than that. Although this space has often been emulated, it has never really been equaled. Because of its popularity, you’ll want to book tickets as far in advance as possible here.
The Sumida Hokusai Museum
The Sumida Hokusai Museum
Katsushika Hokusai, a prolific printmaker and painter during the Edo period, is one of the best-known Japanese artists that ever lived. He’s often simply referred to as Hokusai here. In life, the prolific artist produced more than 30,000 works across various media. He was most renowned for his mastery of ukiyo-e, a form of woodblock printing.
His best-known pieces are instantly recognizable to almost anyone. Chief among these is his woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Serene images of Mount Fuji and other landscapes from his later years are also of great note.
The Sumida Hokusai Museum honors the lasting legacy and influence of this artistic giant. Here, visitors can see some of his best-known works, along with replicas of others. The museum also delves into the life and times of artists with English-language information panels. It’s all housed in a stunning modernist building by architect Sejima Kazuyo.
MOMAT, The National Museum of Modern Art
The National Museum of Modern Art Photo by Kakidai on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Located near the Imperial Palace and the Science Museum, the National Museum of Modern Art is one of the best museums in Tokyo for art lovers. Many of Japan’s most significant artists from the Meiji Period onward are well-represented in the collection of more than 13,000 works.
Part of what makes MOMAT so intriguing to visit is the fact that many different artistic media are showcased here. From video installations to elaborate textiles, the curation here is both broad and intentional. Because MOMAT is located in Roppongi, it’s easy to combine a visit here with several nearby art museums.
Yayoi Kusama Museum
Few creatives have managed effectively to straddle the line between fine art and pop culture as effectively as Yayoi Kusama. In recent years, her infinity rooms and polka-dotted pumpkins have made her a social media darling. But long before the influencer set discovered her work, Kusama was deeply respected for her subversive, thought-provoking pieces.
Part of the artist’s allure lies in her history of resilience. As an adolescent, she lived through World War II air raids and tumultuous times in Japanese history. Kusama also began experiencing hallucinations, which initially terrified, then later inspired her. Her polka dot motifs are the work of her confronting her illness to create art.
Opened in 2017, the Yayoi Kusama Museum is a celebration of the artist’s seven-decade-long career. Here, visitors will find polka dots everywhere, along with quite a few opportunities to take photos.
Note that this small museum is extremely popular and only allows 200 visitors daily. If you want to secure a 90-minute time slot—it is absolutely worth the extra effort—be sure to plan ahead. The museum also has limited opening times and closes for stretches between exhibitions, so check the schedule.
Edo-Tokyo Museum
Edo-Tokyo Museum
If you’ve always wanted to time travel, this immersive glimpse of feudal Japan is for you. Start your journey by strolling across a full-size replica of the Nihonbashi Bridge. It’s easy to spend hours exploring the detailed scaled replicas of how Tokyo’s neighborhoods once looked. Part of what makes this experience so special is that the museum shows the lives of regular people. It’s especially great for families with teens looking for an interactive history lesson.
Japan’s Edo period, which ran from roughly 1603 to 1886, was a time when the Tokugawa shogunate, along with hundreds of feudal lords, ruled over the nation. This isolationist period in history is often romanticized and has served as the backdrop for countless works of fiction. Both kids and adults can enjoy exploring this lost era of samurai and shoguns.
Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
The fabulous 1933 Art Deco building housing this museum is half of the reason to visit this Tokyo museum. It served as both the private residence of a prince and the official home of a prime minister. Today, it’s home to one of Tokyo’s more approachably sized museums. It hosts regularly rotating exhibitions on art and design, as well as events for families.
Teien means “garden,” which should give you a sense of the museum’s greatest draw. With its beautifully maintained gardens, the museum feels like a zen haven in the heart of Tokyo. Wander through this leafy expanse and you’ll come across the Kouka Teahouse, which was once used by royalty.
Miraikan: The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation
Located in Odaiba, not far from the giant Gundam mecha statue, this highly interactive museum is an essential stop for families with curious kids. To call Miraikan—which roughly means “Museum of the Future”—a science museum sells it short. Yes, it focuses on technology and understanding the world, but it does so in an utterly innovative fashion. The museum’s focus is more on encouraging visitors to think and ask questions than simply to convey information.
For instance, children can explore the fictional, futuristic Nanairo City, in which robots are thoroughly integrated into the daily lives of all citizens. They can also engage with a dramatic visual exhibit on what happens when the lines between the simulated and real worlds blur. There are even questions from real Nobel Prize winners to spark contemplation. Be sure to check out the Geo-Cosmos, a digital vision of what the Earth of the future may look like.
National Museum of Western Art
National Museum of Western Art
A bronze cast of Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker greets visitors outside of Tokyo’s National Museum of Western Art in Ueno Park. Founded by the late industrialist and art collector Kōjirō Matsukata, the galleries here feature an impressive collection spanning several centuries. You’ll find works by everyone from Rubens to Rembrandt on display within these halls.
There’s a particularly noteworthy collection for the 19th and 20th centuries here, with works by Pablo Picasso, Édouard Manet, Marc Chagall, and Vincent Van Gogh. The building itself is also a remarkable work by Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier. The architect was known for applying humanist principles of scale to just about every facet of his work.
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Ōta Memorial Museum of Art
Ōta Memorial Museum of Art Photo by Rs1421 on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
More ukiyo-e works can be found at this rather lovely museum. The term ukiyo-e roughly translates as “pictures of a floating world.” Some artists, like Hokusai, used it to depict sweeping landscapes and pastoral scenes. For others, the woodblock prints could be used to capture a lively kabuki theater performance or the graceful folds of a geisha’s kimono.
Seizo Ota, a great collector of ukiyo-e prints in life, willed his private collection into a public museum after his passing. Only a fraction of the 14,000 works are on display at any given time. Rotating, thoughtfully curated exhibitions mean there’s always something new to see here.
Hokusai is well-represented in this collection as well, along with some of the other finest artists from the Edo period. After admiring the woodblock prints, pause to soak in the tranquility of the on-site Japanese rock garden.
Shitamachi Tanabata Museum
Shitamachi Tanabata Museum Photo by Daderot on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC0 1.0
Much like the Edo-Tokyo Museum, this quirky space offers visitors a glimpse into another era of Tokyo’s history. Picture walking into a shared tenement house from the 1950s and ‘60s. During that period, this was a working class neighborhood. Many of the locals lived in fairly modest accommodations and practiced a craft.
Stepping into the downstairs portion of the museum feels like entering the home and workspace of a lantern-maker. You’ll find shoes neatly stashed away by the sliding screen doors, as if the owners just stepped out for a moment. The upstairs portion of the building feels more like a conventional museum, with games, toys, and ordinary household objects from the same period.
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