When you build your day in Tokyo around its museums, you can see how differently the city presents Japanese art, culture and design depending on where you look. You might begin with cedar, incense and temple roofs, then shift a few train stops later to a gallery where digital flowers scatter at your approach. The contrast is immediate, and the museums add the details — the materials artists chose, the techniques they refined and the ideas contemporary creators are pushing in new directions.

Princess® cruises to Tokyo make it possible to explore the city’s best museums. Here, we highlight a few of the most important, informative and enjoyable options to consider, whether you’re beginning your cruise in Tokyo, concluding it there or just spending a single day in the city.

Key takeaways

Tokyo’s museums cover a wide range of interests, from samurai-era art and historic architecture to contemporary exhibitions and immersive digital installations.

The Tokyo National Museum is a strong choice for a first museum visit, especially for guests looking for a broad introduction to Japanese art and culture.

teamLab Borderless, teamLab Planets and the Mori Art Museum give guests several ways to experience Tokyo’s contemporary art scene.

Museum districts such as Ueno and Roppongi can help guests organize a day ashore without spending too much time traveling across the city.

Hours, timed-entry requirements, photography policies and accessibility details vary by museum, so checking current visitor information before your visit can help the day run more smoothly.

Tokyo's major collections and museums

Among Tokyo history museums, the Tokyo National Museum is the natural place to start. Located in Ueno Park, it anchors one of the city's most concentrated museum districts, with several major cultural institutions within walking distance. That proximity makes Ueno especially useful when you only have a few hours to explore, giving you a substantial introduction to Japanese art and history without spending a lot of additional time traveling between neighborhoods.

Start in Ueno

Founded in 1872, the Tokyo National Museum is Japan's oldest museum. Its collection contains more than 120,000 cultural properties from Japan and elsewhere in Asia, with rotating displays that can include samurai armor, ceramics and Buddhist sculpture. National Treasures appear throughout the collection, so even a focused visit can reveal how materials and artistic traditions changed across centuries.

If you have time for only one of the best museums in Tokyo, start with the Japanese Gallery in the Tokyo National Museum’s main building. It offers a broad introduction to Japanese art. It also pairs naturally with other things to do in Tokyo if you want to add a temple tour, shopping stop or meal at a local restaurant.

Walk through old Tokyo in Koganei

The Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum takes a different approach to history. Rather than viewing domestic objects behind glass, you walk among 30 relocated and restored buildings in Koganei Park. Homes, shops and other structures show how people used space and materials during different periods of Tokyo's development.

Koganei is outside central Tokyo, so you’ll need to plan for enough time to travel there and to fully take in the museum itself. That said, guests beginning or ending their Princess cruise in Tokyo may find it especially rewarding during a pre- or post-cruise stay, when there is more room in the schedule to explore the buildings.

See Japan through historic and modern advertising

In Shiodome, the Ad Museum Tokyo traces Japanese advertising from the Edo period to the present through a collection of roughly 330,000 materials. Early woodblock advertisements sit within a much longer history that eventually reaches posters, television commercials and beyond. Interactive displays let you select advertisements from different periods, highlighting changes in Japanese taste and daily life. Admission is currently free.

Tokyo also has scores of smaller collections devoted to specialized subjects, from craft to military history. If you have a particular interest, a little pre-cruise research may reveal a Tokyo museum or attraction that fits even the most specialized tastes.

Traditional Japanese houses with curved tiled roofs viewed through a wooden lattice window, surrounded by autumn foliage.
Traditional architecture comes alive at Tokyo's Edo Open Air Museum.

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Contemporary and digital art worth the detour

Some of the best museums in Tokyo replace glass cases with explorable spaces. That makes the city's contemporary scene a useful counterpoint to Ueno's historical collections and gives multigenerational groups an engaging way to experience art together.

Pick from two teamLab experiences

The Tokyo-based art collective teamLab creates large-scale digital installations that respond to movement, light and the surrounding space. Both Tokyo venues use scheduled admission times, so consider booking ahead and planning your travel time to arrive within your designated entry window.

  • teamLab Borderless: Located at Azabudai Hills, Borderless fills connected rooms with projected environments that shift as visitors move through them. Flowers, light and other digital forms travel across walls and floors, and there is no fixed route through the galleries. 
  • teamLab Planets: Located in Toyosu near Tokyo Bay, Planets is designed as a fully immersive experience. Guests remove their shoes before wading through shallow water where projected koi move around their feet, then continue through mirrored spaces filled with points of light and a garden where suspended orchids surround the walkway. Because parts of the experience involve water, uneven surfaces and low seating, guests should expect some splashing and are encouraged to review the venue’s accessibility information before booking.

Go contemporary in Roppongi

Located on the 53rd floor of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, the Mori Art Museum presents rotating exhibitions of contemporary art from Japan and around the world. Current exhibitions determine much of what you will see, so check the program to see what will be available when you arrive. One floor below, Tokyo City View offers panoramic views across the city. Admission is separate unless a combination ticket is available for your visit.

Roppongi and Ueno are separate museum hubs. For a limited day ashore, picking one area and exploring it well usually leaves more time inside the galleries.

An immersive mirrored room filled with hanging strands of glowing blue lights and a reflected starry pattern, with silhouettes of visitors standing inside.
Get lost in an immersive light installation at Tokyo's contemporary art scene.

Architecture that's an attraction in itself

Some of the best museums in Tokyo are nearly as notable for their architecture as for their collections. 

  • National Museum of Western Art: In Ueno, the museum's Main Building was designed by Le Corbusier and completed in 1959. Its concrete structure reflects his concept of a museum designed to expand as its collection grew, connecting Tokyo to the international modernist movement. In 2016, the building and forecourt became part of the UNESCO World Heritage property The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement.
  • Nezu Museum: Architect Kengo Kuma's 2009 design in Minami-Aoyama begins with a long, bamboo-lined approach, then opens to broad expanses of glass overlooking the museum garden. The use of natural materials and framed garden views makes the transition from architecture to landscape part of the visit itself. Inside, the collection includes Japanese and East Asian painting, ceramics and ancient Chinese bronzes.
A bronze statue of a seated, contemplative man on a stone pedestal in front of the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, with autumn trees and a garden in the background.
A seated bronze sculpture greets visitors to Tokyo's National Museum of Western Art.

What to expect before you go

Many of the best museums in Tokyo are spread across several distinct neighborhoods, so a little preparation can help you make the most of your time ashore.

  • Check the calendar before choosing your route: Several major museums in and around Tokyo close one day each week. The Tokyo National Museum currently lists hours of 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and normally closes Mondays, with exceptions for holidays. The Nezu Museum is generally open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and likewise closes most Mondays, with additional closures between exhibitions.
  • Reserve timed experiences early: teamLab Borderless uses date- and time-specific tickets that may sell out. Nezu also offers timed online tickets, although same-day admission may be available. Booking ahead is especially useful when your museum visit needs to fit around a fixed cruise schedule.
  • Expect museum-specific photography rules: Major museums frequently provide English information, but photography policies vary by gallery and exhibition. Nezu prohibits gallery photography, while the Ad Museum permits personal photography with restrictions. Follow posted signs and keep phone conversations out of exhibition spaces.
  • Plan by neighborhood: Ueno works especially well for traditional collections, while Roppongi and nearby Azabudai offer a stronger contemporary-art route. 

With Princess Tokyo shore excursions, guests can experience many of the city’s major sights with transportation and scheduling already taken care of. Museum visits can then be planned separately around the neighborhoods and collections that interest you most.

Experience Tokyo's museums with Princess

The best museums in Tokyo bring the city into sharper focus through details you can see and feel. Up close, lacquered samurai armor reveals intricate metalwork and craftsmanship that can be difficult to appreciate in photographs. At the National Museum of Western Art, Le Corbusier’s concrete forms create a very different physical setting for the collection, while teamLab surrounds you with shifting light, projected flowers and images that respond as you move through the space.

Whether Tokyo is a port call or the beginning or end of your voyage, leaving room for one or two museums can add another layer of discovery to your time in Japan.

Explore Tokyo on a Princess cruise with one of the following:

Best museums in Tokyo FAQ