Tokyo / Ueno & Yanaka / Museum

Tokyo National Museum

東京国立博物館 とうきょうこくりつはくぶつかん

The national collection — swords, Buddhas, screens, kimono, tea bowls — in six buildings on the edge of the park.

EssentialArt · History · Rainy day · Craft

Japan's oldest and largest museum holds a hundred and twenty thousand objects and shows about three thousand at a time, with the national-treasure sword and the best kimono rotating every few weeks. The Honkan's second floor is the tour to take: Japanese art from prehistoric pots to Edo screens in a single loop. The Gallery of Horyuji Treasures, by Yoshio Taniguchi, is a dim, perfect room of seventh-century gilt Buddhas the size of a hand. The Toyokan has Asia; the Hyokeikan is a 1909 Baroque hall. The garden behind, with five tea houses, opens in spring and autumn.

Don't miss

Map of central Tokyo Tokyo Ueno Akihabara Shinjuku Shibuya Shinagawa Ikebukuro Shimbashi Kabukiza Theatre Chuo-dori and the Sunday promenade Ginza Six Ginza Itoya Hama-rikyu Gardens The Ginza gallery walk Tsukiji Hongwanji The Ginza bar streets Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building Imperial Palace East Gardens Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum Marunouchi Naka-dori KITTE and the rooftop garden Idemitsu Museum of Arts Nihonbashi Bridge Mitsukoshi Nihombashi Main Store The old shops of Nihonbashi Artizon Museum Fukutoku Shrine and the Coredo lanes Nihonbashi river cruise Sensoji Temple Kappabashi kitchen street Sumida river water bus The craft and coffee streets west of the temple A kimono day in Asakusa Tokyo Skytree Asakusa Shrine and Sanja Matsuri Tokyo National Museum National Museum of Western Art Ueno Park and Shinobazu Pond Yanaka Ginza and the Yanesen lanes Nezu Shrine Ameyoko market street Asakura Museum of Sculpture Akihabara Electric Town Jimbocho book town Kanda Myojin Shrine Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Nikolai-do) Kanda's old noodle houses Yushima Seido and the Confucian hall Mori Art Museum and Tokyo City View The National Art Center, Tokyo Tokyo Midtown and the Suntory Museum of Art Azabu-Juban shopping street Tokyo Tower and Zojoji Temple Roppongi after dark Nezu Museum The Omotesando architecture walk Aoyama Cemetery Meiji Jingu Gaien ginkgo avenue The Aoyama and Minami-Aoyama back streets Meiji Jingu Yoyogi Park Takeshita Street and Cat Street Ota Memorial Museum of Art Togo Shrine Shibuya scramble crossing and Hachiko Shibuya Sky Nonbei Yokocho and the Shibuya alleys Udagawacho record shops and Shibuya vintage Tomigaya and Kamiyamacho Live music in Shibuya Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observatories Golden Gai Omoide Yokocho The Isetan food hall Hanazono Shrine Tsukiji Outer Market Toyosu Market and the tuna auction teamLab Planets The Tsukiji-to-Ginza walk The Meguro River cherry trees Daikanyama T-Site Daikanyama's low-rise streets Ebisu Garden Place and the Ebisu restaurant streets Nakameguro's back streets Kagurazaka's stone lanes Akagi Shrine Dining in Kagurazaka Zenkokuji Bishamonten Ryogoku Kokugikan and sumo Edo-Tokyo Museum Kiyosumi Garden Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) The Kiyosumi-Shirakawa roasters Tokyo National Museum
A hand-drawn sketch for orientation — each place links to an exact map.
Tip
Go on a Friday or Saturday, when it stays open into the evening and the halls empty out.
Best time
Friday or Saturday evening; Tuesday mornings after the Monday closure.
Allow
150 min
Station
Ueno (JR, park exit), 10 minutes across the park; Uguisudani (JR), 10 minutes
Official site — hours, prices, closures
www.tnm.jp · Map

Appears in

In this area: Ueno & Yanaka

Museum Essential

National Museum of Western Art国立西洋美術館

Le Corbusier's only building in East Asia, a World Heritage Site, with Rodin in the forecourt and Monet inside.

90 min · Ueno (JR, park exit), 1 minute
Park Essential

Ueno Park and Shinobazu Pond上野公園と不忍池

Japan's first public park — the cherry avenue, the lotus pond, a Toshogu shrine in gold, and a zoo.

90 min · Ueno (JR / Ginza / Hibiya lines), park exit
Street Essential

Yanaka Ginza and the Yanesen lanes谷中銀座と谷根千の路地

A 170-metre shopping street of croquettes, cats and shopkeepers who know each other, at the bottom of a flight of "sunset stairs".

150 min · Nippori (JR / Keisei), west exit, 5 minutes

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