Location: Tokyo
Top Things to do in Tokyo
Things to do in Tokyo, Kanto: The Best Specialty Museums
Tradition collides with pop culture in Tokyo, where you can reverently wander ancient temples before rocking out at a karaoke bar. Wake up before the sun to catch the lively fish auction at the Tsukiji Market, then refresh with a walk beneath the cherry blossom trees that line the Sumida River. Spend some time in the beautiful East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, then brush up on your Japanese history at the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Don’t forget to eat as much sushi, udon noodles, and wagashi (Japanese sweets) as your belly can handle.
Restaurants in Tokyo
1. ASAKURA Museum of Sculpture, Taito
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 133 reviews
ASAKURA Museum of Sculpture was once a studio and residence of ASAKURA Fumio (1883-1964), a leading sculptor of modern Japan. The building is now open to the public as a museum exhibiting the collection of ASAKURA's sculptures. Visitors can enjoy viewing the world of ASAKURA and four distinct seasons of Japan.
Reviewed By chloet64 - Dandenong, Australia
A Japanese friend introduced us to this amazing museum. Before our visit, we had not heard of the Japanese sculptor Asakura. So our visit was very enjoyable and enlighting. The museum is situated in a small street in a traditional Japanese home, where Asakura once lived. The house is filled with an array of amazing sculptures and art, as well as a pond and a rooftop garden. And it seems that the artist loved cats! The staff had limited English but were kind and helpful. And it was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon in Tokyo. Highly recommended if you enjoy and have an interest in art and history.
2. Ota Memorial Museum of Art
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 205 reviews
This small museum houses a collection of woodblock prints from noted artist Ota Seizo.
Reviewed By HelloKittyTravelPro
Excellent, small museum devoted to Ukiyo-e. In depth exhibitions focusing on a specific theme or artist. Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s work was on display when we visited in October. The size of the museum provides enough space for the exhibition to explore the subject in detail. Exhibitions change monthly. Allow about an hour to see everything. Small bookstore on the ground floor and gift store on the lower ground floor. The museum is located just a few metres off of Omotesando and less than 5 minutes from Harajuku Station and Takeshita Dori.
3. Hobby Center Kato Tokyo
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 60 reviews
Reviewed By AndyinOmaha - Omaha, United States
The Kato Hobby Center in Shinjuku is a dream destination for any kid -- or dad -- who's loved playing with model trains at any time in his life. There are full-size displays of running model trains, in gauges (in the same layout) of HO through N. The detail is amazing, and the quality for modelers is top-notch. Upstairs are layouts where kids can bring their own trains in for test runs and play. The Hobby Center is also a retail outlet for full train "Starter Sets" [tracks, power packs, and engine with train cars] as well as individual train cars/engines....plus every imagninable replacement part in bins. Kato makes train cars of all types of Japan's railways, European railways, and the US as well. The coolest thing they make (quoting the TSA inspector who examined my carry-on luggage as I re-entered the USA) is the nifty N gauge starter set of the brand new N700 "Nozomi" series of the shinkansen [bullet train] that runs on the Tokyo to Hiroshima Tokaido route. A VERY cool souvenir for anyone who loves model trains. The Hobby Center is located beyond Shinjuku, which makes it a distant (and expensive) 5,000 yen cab ride if you're coming from the heart of Tokyo. I never could have found the place without a cabbie with GPS, so it's worth the extra yen to get there directly.
4. JP Tower Museum Intermediatheque
5. Shunkaen BONSAI Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 64 reviews
- Shunka-en is the Bonsai garden and museum set up by Bonsai master Kunio Kobayashi (three times winner of the Prime Ministers Award, the most prestigious price to be won in Japan). The garden is an absolute highlight and should not be missed. When entering the garden the first thing you are likely to note is the stunning 1000 year old pine tree in front of the house, the masterpiece of Mr. Kobayashi’s collection. Inside the house several tokonoma are set up and a large collection of books and antique Chinese pots and tables are displayed. by bonsai empire
Reviewed By geoffreyw400 - Brisbane Region, Australia
This museum is wonderful and well worth a visit. It is a working bonsai nursery Only about 30 mins from Tokyo and full of incredible and beautiful bonsai, some hundreds of years old. Very friendly staff and great value for 800 yen.
6. Samurai Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,906 reviews
Feel the real Samurai spirit.Samurai Museum is located in the KABUKICHO district of Shinjuku, which is one of the urban areas in Tokyo. It displays various kinds of authentic artifacts such as Samurai armor, helmets and weapons. The mission for the museum is to share true Samurai spirits with you so that you can have a better understanding of Samurai , including how they fought, who they were, what they believed. The museum offers an English guided tour that runs frequently for you to learn rich Samurai history at a deeper level. Many interesting facts about Samurai are covered in this tour.In addition, it has a photo booth where you are allowed to take pictures wearing Samurai outfits or Kimono. Also, the museum offers a special sword show at 2,3,4 and 5 pm everyday for you to watch two trained actors doing a sword fighting performance. The Museum shop is also worth visiting to buy cool gifts such as Katana.
Reviewed By jason3216
The museum has a private collection of some of the best samurai armor, swords and other accessories I have seen. There are guided tours in English that run about every hour (About 1hr duration). Tickets are reasonably priced and includes an informative guided tour, a chance to try on a samurai helmet with a sword as well as other garments such as kimonos. There is also a samurai sword-wielding demonstration that runs at set intervals during the day (You can return during the day to see the demonstration). Easy walking distance from Shinjuku station. A must see.
7. teamLab Borderless
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,324 reviews
teamLab Borderless is a group of artworks that form one borderless world. Artworks move out of the rooms freely, form connections and relationships with people, communicate with other works, influence and sometimes intermingle with each other. Create new experiences with others, immerse yourself in borderless art, and explore the world with your body. In a vast complex, three-dimensional 10,000 square meter space, 520 computers and 470 projectors create a completely new world, the likes of which have never been seen before. Closed day: June 22nd, 25th, July 9th, 23rd, August 10th, 27th.
Reviewed By DouglasA587
teamLab Borderless (The Odaiba Edition of teamLab), was our first experience of this kind of interactive digital light and sound exhibit. We've visited our fair share of classical, modern and interactive galleries. But this was something quite different, as evidenced by the throngs off people waiting to get in at 10am (opening time), and the queues 10 deep, 50m back outside the door when we left at 1pm. Other reviews and their own website give you the general sense of what's happening: clever use of light and sound in a dark space, some of them with interactive, and even physical elements (like climbing through the 3 dimensional bouldering wall). But that doesn't capture the magic of being there in the dark, wondering what new and beautiful creature is about to come dancing around the corner. There's mo map and genuinely a surprise around every corner. We went around and around to make sure we left no nook undiscovered. Although initially you feel lost and perhaps a little overwhelmed, after a while the layout starts to make sense. For all that, we couldn't visit one of the most famous rooms, with the lanterns, because by the time we got to it, there was an additional 1 hour queue that we decided was too much on top of 3 hours already spent. I do recommend pre-booking online and turning up at opening time, or even 15 minutes before so you're in ASAP when it's as empty as possible. There are coin operated lockers, and luggage locks, so dump your stuff. Having bags around is a drag. Even though you'll be captivated from the first large open area, do head straight to the Lantern room, and consider doing the upstairs section early because it has more elements to queue for. Young (and old) kids will also get more of a blast upstairs where everything is interactive and designed more for the younger (although me and my wife did our crayon drawing that got turned into a digital life-form that we happily chased around the floor). Also take advantage of the En Tea House early, which is located on the upper floor. This isn't not your ordinary Japanese tea experience and is really a full exhibit in its own right. Don't just take the tea, but take the ice cream set. Hint: the tea and the ice cream behave differently. We pre-booked and arrived at opening time on a Christmas Sunday (Dec 21) and the queue was already full but they were selling tickets at the door. They only sell a certain volume off tickets for the day, and when we left at 1pm, they were selling tickets that could only be used from 3pm. Despite the crowd control, it was quite busy inside, although the area is larger than I thought, so it easily swallows several thousand people I would think. Many people say they took one or two hours. We were there 3, and I think we could have stayed longer just to soak up the ambience. It's easily accessible from the Tokyo Teleport station, or the Aomi station. Both are on private lines, so you need an IC card or special ticket, since they are neither JR nor Metro. TeamLab also have a similar exhibit in Shanghai and another "Planets" exhibit in Tokyo which we didn't go to, but looks more for kids.
8. Museum of Yebisu Beer
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 523 reviews
A free short tour explains the historic beer-making process and showcases vintage advertisements. Samples are available for purchase after the tour at rock bottom rates--only ¥500 for four.
Reviewed By Johnnyrob1
If you enjoy Yebisu beer then a visited to the Yebisu Beer Museum is a must. Located just a short walk from the Ebisu train station it is a must. Don’t forget to look for the 1 lucky fish can in the beer can sculpture on your way out.
9. The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 115 reviews
Reviewed By dg5345 - New York City, United States
Any person interested in baseball, especially Japanese baseball, cannot miss this. As mentioned in prior reviews it is relatively small, but a baseball fan could easily spend a couple hours viewing the exhibits. If you speak English, be sure to ask for the English information packet at the front desk. Between the limited English signage, the information packet, and Google Translate, you should be able to identify any object you are curious about. It is located in the Tokyo Dome, so a perfect pre-game activity for anyone catching a baseball game at the Dome (although it may be more crowded at that time).
10. Bank of Japan Currency Museum
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 234 reviews
Reviewed By geographyguy_11
I am no economist but I do love a good central bank museum. The Bank of Japan was no exception and offers a wealth of information about Japanese history inside its small display. The security staff at the entry were helpful in giving me an English guide to the exhibits, with further leaflets available in the museum itself. It is extremely comprehensive, detailing the history of currency in Japan from gold and silver ingots to the first paper money to the reforms required as the country opened up to the West during the Meiji period. This museum helped me put some of the things I had learnt at other museums in context. There are a set of stamps to collect as you go around and lots of coins, notes and associated objects to inspect. Well worth a trip if you love history, politics or old money!
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