Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park
Last updated: August 26, 2026
The Tokyo National Museum holds the world's greatest collection of Japanese art — some 120,000 works spanning samurai swords and armor, kimonos, woodblock prints and the oldest collection of Japanese Buddhist art in existence. Founded in 1872 as Japan's oldest national museum, it spreads across several grand buildings at the north end of Ueno Park, with over 3,000 objects on display at any moment and exhibits rotating about 370 times a year, so no two visits repeat. Finish in the Museum Garden, where traditional teahouses sit among year-round greenery.
Itinerary
- Stop at: Tokyo National Museum
Frequently Asked Questions
Around 120,000 artifacts, including national treasures and important cultural properties: historic samurai swords and armor, kimonos, ukiyo-e woodblock prints, ceramics, and the oldest collection of Japanese Buddhist art in existence. Over 3,000 objects are on display at any given time.
Exhibits span multiple buildings around a central courtyard: the Honkan (Japanese Gallery) carries the story of Japanese art from prehistory onward, the Toyokan covers the wider Asian collection, and the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures displays seventh-century Buddhist objects in a serene modern hall. The Museum Garden with its traditional teahouses rounds off the grounds.
Constantly — the regular exhibition rotates its displays about 370 times a year to protect fragile works and surface more of the vast collection, so even a repeat visit a few weeks later offers fresh discoveries.
The museum stands at the north end of Ueno Park in Taito City, about ten minutes' walk from Ueno Station's Park exit — an easy pairing with the park's other museums, the zoo and Shinobazu Pond on the same day.