An Art Lover’s Guide to Tokyo

Start your tour of Tokyo’s art scene at the Tokyo National Museum. Located in Ueno Park, the museum houses more than 100,000 works from Japan and other Asian countries, including nearly 100 national treasures. Exhibits range from Pre-Jōmon stone tools and Ainu clothing to calligraphy, ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), and an extensive collection of paintings and drawings by the yōga (Western-style) artist Kuroda Seiki.

The infamous nighttime entertainment district of Roppongi has shrugged off its poor reputation in recent years and emerged as a center for art. The neighborhood’s art scene is anchored around the Art Triangle Roppongi, consisting of three institutions: the National Art Center Tokyo (NACT), The Suntory Museum of Art, and the Mori Art Museum (Mori Bijutsukan). Each museum focuses on temporary exhibitions (none has a permanent collection), which range from the art of the tea ceremony to cutting-edge multimedia art. You can receive discounted entry when you present an entrance ticket stub from any of the three museums.

The Sumida Hokusai Museum is dedicated to the ukiyo-e master Katsushika Hokusai, known as Hokusai, who was born and died nearby. Housed in a strikingly modern building wrapped in reflective aluminum, the museum is home to a permanent collection mainly made up of replications. Rotating temporary exhibitions display originals, such as prints from his most–famous series, “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.”

Enter the colorful world of avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama at this museum dedicated to her work. With two exhibitions per year, the museum presents the length and breadth of her remarkable—and now Instagram-famous—art. As a top–draw museum, entrance is restricted to pre-booked ticket-holders (book as far in advance as possible).

Koenji is loved by Tokyoites and visitors alike for its laid–back, bohemian atmosphere. Unsurprisingly, this is one of the few places in Tokyo that embraces street art. A handful of colorful murals adorn the sides of buildings in Koenji, courtesy of the Mural City Project Koenji. The organizers aim to eventually turn Koenji into a world-famous center for street art.

The annual Art Week Tokyo, hosted in collaboration with Art Basel, is a multi-day art festival celebrating contemporary art in Tokyo. More than 50 of Tokyo's leading museums and galleries host events and exhibitions during Art Week Tokyo. Download the festival’s app for discounted exhibition passes and free rides on the AWT Bus to get between venues.

Housed in a building by famed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the Nezu Museum (Nezu Bijutsukan) displays hundreds of works of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean art during its rotating exhibitions, drawn from the private collection of industrialist Nezu Kaichirō. Besides the art, a highlight of this museum is its verdant garden and café, an urban oasis in the heart of Tokyo.

Occupying a 200-year-old public bathhouse in the atmospheric Yanaka district, SCAI The Bathhouse is a leading gallery of contemporary art. The small, vaulted space hosts rotating exhibitions of Japanese and modern artists but is worth a visit for the building alone. The gallery has two outposts, SCAI Piramide in Roppongi and SCAI Park in Tennozu.

Some of Tokyo’s most striking sculptures can be found while wandering around the city. Some of the best places to find public art include Roppongi Hills, home to Louise Bourgeois’ giant spider Maman and Jean-Michel Othoniel’s Kin no Kokoro, and Shinjuku where you’ll find Yoshiko Miyashita’s Eye of Shinjuku installation and Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture.