5 minute walk from Ueno Station in Ueno Park Hours: 9:30 to 17:00 (extended hours on some Fridays and weekends) Closed: Mondays (or following day if Monday is a holiday), New Year holidays Admission: 1000 yen, free entry on May 18, 3rd Monday in September and Nov 3
The oldest and largest museum in Japan, the Tokyo National Museum is made up of multiple buildings, each like a separate museum in itself. They house the largest collection of national treasures and important cultural items in the country.
5 minute walk from Ryogoku Station Hours: 9:30 to 17:30 (until 19:30 on Saturdays) Closed: Mondays (or following day if Monday is a holiday), New Year holidays Admission: 600 yen
The excellent Edo-Tokyo Museum displays models and life-sized recreations of structures and events to show the daily life of Tokyo during the Edo, Meiji and early Showa periods.
10 minute bus ride from Musashi-Koganei Station Hours: Apr to Sep 9:30 to 17:30, Oct to Mar until 16:30 Closed: Mondays and New Year holidays Admission: 400 yen
A branch of the above Edo-Tokyo Museum, this open air museum exhibits a number of relocated and reconstructed historic buildings and structures laid out like a historic town.
On the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine Hours: 9:00 to 16:30 (entry until 16:00) Closed: No closing days Admission: 1000 yen
A large museum on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine that commemorates Japan's wars from a conservative Japanese perspective with detailed information in English.
Shitamachi Museum
5 minute walk from Ueno Station Hours: daily 9:30 to 16:30 (entry until 16:00) Closed: Mondays (or following day if Monday is a holiday), New Year holidays Admission: 300 yen
Shitamachi is the name of the artisan and merchant part of old Tokyo. This nostalgic museum has exhibits and reconstructions that show what life was like in Tokyo from the late Meiji to early Showa Periods.
The Japanese Sword Museum
5 minute walk north of JR Ryogoku Station Hours: 9:30 to 17:00 (entry until 16:30) Closed: Mondays (or next day if Mon is a holiday), between exhibitions, New Year Admission: 1000 yen
The Japanese Sword Museum exhibits a large number of sword blades and related items, including historic and modern items. Exhibitions are changed multiple times per year. Formerly located in Shinjuku, the museum was moved and reopened in a modern building in Ryogoku in 2018.
Science
National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation••
5 min walk from Funenokagakukan Station (Odaiba) Hours: daily 10:00 to 17:00 Closed: Tuesdays and New Year's Holidays Admission: 630 yen
Also known as Miraikan, this extremely interactive and bilingual museum has excellent exhibits about environmental issues, robots (including Honda's ASIMO), information technology, biology and space exploration.
National Science Museum•
5 min walk from Ueno Station in Ueno Park Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 (until 20:00 on Fri and Sat; entry ends 30 min before closing) Closed: Mondays (or following day if Mon is a holiday), Dec 28 to Jan 1 Admission: 630 yen
This museum covers both science and natural history with hands-on physics and robotics experiments, an impressive collection of mounted animals and a 360 degree virtual theater relocated from the Aichi Expo.
Ratings: best of the best
best of Japan
outstanding