Best Museums in Japan
Japan is home to 14 world-class museums across 7 cities, from ancient art and archaeology to modern and contemporary collections.
All Museums in Japan
Tokyo
Tokyo National Museum
The oldest and largest art museum in Japan.
Founded 1872
Tokyo
Mori Art Museum
A contemporary-art museum on the 53rd floor of Roppongi Hills with sweeping views of Tokyo.
Founded 2003
Tokyo
National Museum of Western Art
A Le Corbusier-designed museum in Ueno Park, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Founded 1959
Tokyo
teamLab Borderless
A museum of immersive, interactive digital art created by the international art collective teamLab.
Founded 2018
Tokyo
National Art Center, Tokyo
Japan's largest exhibition space, in a wave-fronted glass building by Kisho Kurokawa.
Founded 2007
Tokyo
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Japan's first national art museum dedicated to modern art, in the Imperial Palace's Kitanomaru Park.
Founded 1952
Tokyo
Nezu Museum
An exquisite museum of Japanese and East Asian pre-modern art, in a Kengo Kuma building with a hidden Aoyama garden.
Founded 1941
Tokyo
Ghibli Museum, Mitaka
Hayao Miyazaki's enchanting museum of Studio Ghibli's animated films, in Mitaka's Inokashira Park.
Founded 2001
Kyoto
Kyoto National Museum
Kyoto's principal museum of pre-modern Japanese art, in the Higashiyama district.
Founded 1897
Nara
Nara National Museum
Set in Nara Park, this museum is the country's leading collection of Japanese Buddhist art.
Founded 1895
Hakone
Hakone Open-Air Museum
Japan's first open-air museum, set in the mountains of Hakone with views of Mount Fuji on clear days.
Founded 1969
Atami
MOA Museum of Art
An elegantly minimal museum on Atami's hillside, refurbished by Hiroshi Sugimoto and Tomoyuki Sakakida.
Founded 1982
Hiroshima
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
A solemn museum within Peace Memorial Park, dedicated to the victims of the 6 August 1945 atomic bombing.
Founded 1955
Yasugi
Adachi Museum of Art
Famed for its perfectly maintained gardens, ranked Japan's best for over twenty consecutive years.
Founded 1970