History museums in Tokyo

Five places to explore Japan's past

During your stay in Tokyo, turn to the past for a few hours. Some museums in the capital offer key information for understanding the history of Japan. Discover them and unlock the secrets of the past...

The Ota Museum, the art of Japanese prints

 

The Ota Memorial Art Museum is dedicated to the genre of Japanese art known as ukiyo-e. They are traditional Japanese woodblock prints that were very popular during the Edo period. The Edo era lasted from 1603 to 1868, a period of great economic prosperity and cultural growth across Japan, especially in the arts.

 

 

These ukiyo-e are an important testimony to the past of the Japanese archipelago.

Kobayashi_Kiyochika_(1879)_Suruga-chō_yuki

Kobayashi_Kiyochika_(1879)_Suruga-chō_yuki

Kobayashi Kiyochika

The Shitamachi Museum, a street in the Edo period

 

The Shitamachi Museum offers visitors a glimpse of daily life in Tokyo between the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and the Great Earthquake of 1923. The Meiji period saw Japanese society evolve from a feudal society into a more modern Japan than we know.

 

 

This charming museum thus explores the living and working conditions of this period.

Shitamachi Museum

Shitamachi Museum

Daderot

Shitamachi museum

Shitamachi Museum

Public Domain

Most of the exhibits, however, are not genuine pieces, but rather more recent reproductions. If you want to see the originals, we invite you to go to the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park.

  • Address : 2-25-6 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
  • Access: 8 min on foot from Shinjuku station, east exit
  • Hours: 10:30 am to 9 pm. Closed on Tuesdays.
  • Price: 1,800 yen for adults, 800 yen for children under 12, and free for children under 3. Prizes include a souvenir photo in samurai attire.
musée du samourai

Entrance to the Samurai Museum

Nippon connection

Samuraï Museum

Samurai Museum

Samurai Museum

The permanent exhibition, which features original objects and replicas, takes visitors on a journey through 400 years of Edo-Tokyo history since the arrival of the famous shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in the city. The museum also organizes conferences and workshops on the subject.

  • Address: 1-4-1 Yokoami, Sumida-ku, Tokyo
  • Access : 3 min on foot from the West Exit of Ryogoku Station, JR Sobu Line
  • Hours: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. Closed on Mondays.
  • Price: 600 yen for adults, 480 yen for middle school students, and 300 yen for high school students.
Edo-Tokyo Museum

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Daderot

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Alkan de Beaumont

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Edo-Tokyo Museum

kanegen

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