What Is National Art Museum Excursions?

The Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art is dedicated to providing enjoyable museum experiences to as many children as possible and to making museums fun places for them. With this mission in mind, we promote various initiatives at our seven facilities nationwide.

Children (high school students and younger and those under 18) can always enjoy free admission to the collection and permanent exhibitions at each facility. They can visit as often as they like and discover artworks that interest them.

Each facility also offers creative activities that take advantage of their unique features, such as Family Days, where families can enjoy art without worrying about disturbing other visitors, fun-filled art appreciation programs, craft workshops, and film screenings.

National Art Museum Excursions highlights these family-friendly initiatives offered at seven National Museums of Art across Japan. For more details, please check the Event Information.

Additionally, we are actively enhancing accessibility at all of our facilities. Please see the List of the National Museums of Art for more information.

Accessibility & Features

Connecting Children with Museums aims to provide enjoyable museum experiences to as many children as possible. It is an initiative carried out by the Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art with the support of Adobe Foundation.

It is important to expose our children, who bear the future, to art and culture. However, many parents find it challenging to enjoy museums with children or to take them to museums without disturbing other visitors.

To address this issue, the Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art has launched activities at seven National Museums of Art across Japan, utilizing the unique characteristics of each facility to create enjoyable museum experiences for children.

Main initiatives include:

Creating children-friendly museum environments

Implementing Family Days, where families can enjoy art without worrying about disturbing other visitors, and establishing areas within the museums where children can feel comfortable.

Offering diverse programs for children

Distributing tools for appreciating art, providing art appreciation programs, craft workshops, film screenings, and more.

Connecting Children with Museums initiative is supported by the Adobe Foundation.

List of the National Museums of Art

TokyoThe National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

An art museum boasting one of the largest collections in Japan, where visitors can survey the current of Japanese art from the end of the 19th century to the present day

Located near the Imperial Palace, this is the first National Museum of Art in Japan. It holds over 13,000 works of modern and contemporary art, including important cultural properties by artists such as Yokoyama Taikan and Kishida Ryusei. About 200 works are exhibited at a time based on appropriate themes and perspectives. Visitors can trace the course of Japanese art in a single sweep, from end of the 19th century to the present day. “A Room with a View,” a lounge overlooking the Imperial Palace and the Marunouchi area’s buildings, is also not to be missed.

Access 3-1 Kitanomaru-koen, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8322

Hours10:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m. (on Fridays & Saturdays until 8:00 p.m.)
Admission until 30 minutes before closing.

HolidaysClosed on Mondays (open on holiday Mondays and closed on the following days), during installation periods, and New Year holidays.

Admission FeesAdults 500 yen, College and University students 250 yen
*Excluding special exhibitions

See the list of events

IshikawaNational Crafts Museum

An art museum specializing in modern and contemporary crafts and design, relocated to Kanazawa, a city of crafts

The National Crafts Museum specializes in modern and contemporary crafts and design. In addition to collection, special, and joint exhibitions focusing on certain topics, it has the relocated studio of lacquer artist Matsuda Gonroku, a digital system for crafts appreciation, an art library with a collection of specialized books, and a museum shop featuring original products. Another highlight is the buildings, former army facilities from the Meiji period (1868–1912).

Access 3-2 Dewa-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-0963

Hours9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Admission until 30 minutes before closing.

HolidaysClosed on Mondays (open on holiday Mondays and closed on the following days), during installation periods, and New Year holidays.

Admission FeesAdmission fees are determined for each exhibition.
*Either special exhibition or collection exhibition held.

See the list of events

KyotoThe National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto

An art museum where you can encounter works related to Kyoto

This art museum is located close to Heian Jingu Shrine. Focusing on art from western Japan and especially Kyoto, it houses a wide range of works, from crafts such as ceramics, textiles, and metalwork to Japanese paintings, Western-style paintings, prints, sculptures, and photographs. The collection exhibits, which focus on and introduce artistic activities in western Japan, change almost entirely every season, so you can enjoy every visit.

Access 26-1 Okazaki Enshoji-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8344

Hours10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. (on Fridays until 8:00 p.m.)
Admission until 30 minutes before closing.

HolidaysMondays and closed on the following days), during installation periods, and New Year holidays.

Admission FeesAdults 430 yen, College and University students 130 yen
*Excluding special exhibitions.

See the list of events

TokyoNational Film Archive of Japan

Japan’s only national institution specialized in film

As Japan’s only national institution specialized in film, the Archive collects, preserves, researches, and restores Japanese and foreign films and film-related materials. It also holds special screenings covering works from silent films to recent ones, permanent exhibitions conveying the history of Japanese cinema, and special exhibitions from various perspectives. It has a library and serves as a hub for film culture promotion, including film education and international collaboration and cooperation.

Access 3-7-6 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0031

HoursGallery Hours
11:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m. (open until 8:00 p.m. on the last Friday of every month)
Admission until 30 minutes before closing.
The hours of the theaters may be extended during some programs.

HolidaysClosed on Mondays, New Year holidays and other days as designated.

Admission FeesAdults 250 yen, College and University students 130 yen
*Screening fees are separate from the above fees.

See the list of events

TokyoThe National Museum of Western Art

Japan’s leading museum devoted to Western art, with a collection of Western art masterpieces

This museum, located in Ueno Park, specializes in Western art. Based on the Matsukata Collection gifted and returned to Japan by the French government, the museum mainly houses Western paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings from the Renaissance to the middle 20th century. It features many works by artists that everyone has heard of, such as Renoir and Picasso, giving visitors a view of the course of Western art. The 17 sites in the Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement, including the National Museum of Western Art, are registered as World Heritage Sites, and the restoration of the museum’s forecourt in April 2022 allows visitors to experience its original appearance.

Access 7-7 Ueno-koen, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0007

Hours10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (on Fridays & Saturdays until 8:00 p.m.)
Admission until 30 minutes before closing.

HolidaysClosed on Mondays (open on holiday Mondays and closed on the following days), during installation periods, and New Year holidays.

Admission FeesAdults 500 yen, College and University students 250 yen
*Excluding special exhibitions.

See the list of events

OsakaThe National Museum of Art, Osaka

An art museum to encounter contemporary art from Japan and abroad

Located on the waterfront of Nakanoshima, Osaka, this is a completely underground museum, which is unusual anywhere in the world. At the entrance, visitors are greeted by a unique object inspired by bamboo. With around 8,200 works, with a focus on contemporary art from Japan and overseas since 1945. In the collection exhibition, artists and works that are important in talking about contemporary art are introduced in attractive themes with a new perspective for each exhibition change.

Access 4-2-55 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0005

Hours10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (on Fridays & Saturdays until 8:00 p.m.)
Admission until 30 minutes before closing.

HolidaysClosed on Mondays (open on holiday Mondays and closed on the following days), during installation periods, and New Year holidays.

Admission FeesAdults 430 yen, College and University students 130 yen
*Excluding special exhibitions.

See the list of events

TokyoThe National Art Center, Tokyo

An art center that holds a variety of exhibitions by making the most of one of the largest exhibition spaces in Japan

The National Art Center, Tokyo opened in Roppongi, which is attracting attention as an art spot in Tokyo, with the concept for the building as “an Art Center surrounded by green spaces.” Instead of maintaining a permanent collection, it holds a variety of special exhibitions and provides venues for art groups, making the most of one of the largest exhibitions spaces in Japan, in its bright and open interior surrounded by glass, so that visitors can encounter new art at any time. It also serves creating and disseminating art and culture.

Access 7-22-2 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8558

Hours10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. (on Fridays & Saturdays until 8:00 p.m.)
Admission until 30 minutes before closing.

HolidaysClosed on Tuesdays (open on holiday Tuesdays and closed on the following days), New Year holidays.

Admission FeesAdmission fees are determined for each exhibition.

See the list of events