Top 5 Museums in Japan

362-1 Enoura, Odawara, Kanagawa 250-0025, Japan

“One of my favourite parts of our Japan trip. If you can visit I highly recommend it. This is for me, the best work that Hiroshi Sugimoto designed and a masterclass of great architecture. This place invokes an almost magical mood and atmosphere using design, and demonstrates the power of well designed lighting in an experience. We spend an entire day here, and every moment was educational, and enlightening. Highly recommend, even if you are not an architect and just love design like me!”

7 Chome-18-10 Yanaka, Taito City, Tokyo 110-0001, Japan

“Very nice”

Japan, 〒605-0813 Kyoto, Rokurocho, 100-1 Matsubara-dori Yamatooji Higashi iru, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto

“Enjoyed this experience. The Maiko was lovely, danced beautifully, and was gracious in answering our questions. The plus was the permission to take pictures and video. Our host was wonderful in making the evening fun and explained it all. The tea ceremony portion was just enough to learn the details of drinking tea properly.”

Japan, 〒919-1331 Fukui, Mikatakaminaka District, Wakasa, Torihama, 122-12-1 縄文ロマンパーク内

“Amazing museum, unique in all ways”

5202 Eicho Beppu, Minamikyūshū, Kagoshima 891-0704, Japan

“Beautiful scenery with Kaimondake looming in the background. The House of the Seahorse is a quaint little souvenir shop with many seahorses zipping about in aquariums. There are lots of crabs scuttling on the forest floor - be careful lest you step on one. Watch out for spiders; they can be seen devouring unfortunate bees or lying in wait in their large spun webs all over the length of the walk. We tried to get to the Kamafuku Shrine but the tide came in. Remember to watch out for waves along the rocky parts of the beach.”

Japan, 〒150-8377 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Udagawacho, 15−1 渋谷PARCO 6F

“It's on the smaller side in comparison to other Pokemon Centres across Japan, but it more than makes up for that fact with the unique Mew Two statue and the new Pokemon Design Lab where you can make your own personalised T-Shirts with almost any Pokemon (Hoenn and some other regions were unavailable at the time of my visit 1.11.2023). It has all the same merchandise as the other stores but with the addition if a few exclusive collaboration items with various brands. There's phone cases that have crystal designs that run between about 18000 and 30000 yen each. Also watches, wedding bands and laundry baskets.”

1番地 Nikka, Aoba Ward, Sendai, Miyagi 989-3433, Japan

“Like all distilleries, this place is cool. A few things of note before you make the trek out here though: -They do not do English tours (at least, not without a special reservation). -They do not sell their special blended scotch on site (but you can try it in the tasting). The gift shop was otherwise nice and well stocked, and the tasting pours were generous for the prices. I’m glad we went, but I would not count this as a must go unless you really love the brand.”

3 Chome-1-53 Takigashira, Isogo Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 235-0012, Japan

“No, I'm surprised. It was extremely fulfilling. I went on a weekday, so I was able to take my time to see it, but it seems to be crowded on weekends. It was nice to be able to ride a real streetcar, but there were so many exhibit panels that I didn't have enough time to read them all. The driving simulation was surprisingly difficult! Adults can also enjoy it.”

4 Chome-7-2 Shimoshakujii, Nerima City, Tokyo 177-0042, Japan

“A small picture book artist's art museum located in a quiet residential area. U can feel the author's life of loving children who can express the difference between an 8 month old and a 1 year old baby. The modest atelier from that time remains and is well worth a visit. U can also drink tea while reading a picture book, so U can spend a relaxing time in a small museum.”

Japan, 〒070-0902 Hokkaido, Asahikawa, Shunkocho, 国有無番地

“I visited this museum with the Japanese Self Defense Force as part of Operation Orient Shield one cold INFANTRY November. There are allot of original artifacts!”

Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima 739-0588, Japan

“Visited at the end of the year. Transfer between two ropeways. I went in the evening outside of peak hours. The last ropeway to go back was 4:30 pm, but we were able to get on the ropeway by lining up before then, and we were able to get off safely after waiting about 30-40 minutes.”

1439-1 Kawana, Itō, Shizuoka 414-0044, Japan

“It's not a very large facility, but I was able to hear the pipe organ and music box playing in the church. I was impressed by the pipe organ performance. It was a sunny day, so the sun was shining through the stained glass, making it very beautiful. It's a perfect place for adults to visit.”

1 Chome-6-1 Daiba, Minato City, Tokyo 135-0091, Japan

“On the occasion of my birthday on January 26th we came to Madame Tussauds. Had a little trouble finding it. Later we went to the lego shop on the 1st floor and bought tickets. 2100 yen per person if you buy advanced ticket online and 2600 yen per person if you don't. Entering the elevator, I saw Bruce Wills standing and welcoming. We stopped at 6th floor. Johnny Depp stood as the elevator door opened. At the first entrance, wax figures of many political celebrities will be seen. I remembered Shinzo Abe's statue very much. After this, there were statues of famous athletes. I love wax figures of Lionel Messi, Usain Bolt and Maria Sharapova. There are fun games and activities. We take a lot of pictures and videos. Statues of famous musicians can be seen in the next section. I play the drum set. Danced to Michael Jackson's famous song. Handprints of famous people can also be seen. See the wax figure of Madame Marie Tussaud, who actually started this wax museum. Then there are world-famous scientists, writers, painters, among whom I like Albert Einstein very much. In the next section we look at famous actresses and actors. Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Kate Winslet, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie are all seen. There is a modeling runway. We took pictures in the photobooth and left. Had a lots of fun and took lots of videos and pictures. Must recommended place.”

2913-1 Hakushucho Torihara, Hokuto, Yamanashi 408-0316, Japan

“Being a huge whisky fan, it is an honour to be able to visit the distillery. Do book in advance to get a tour (where a guide will share about the distillery in Japanese, they have a phone which English translation is provided). If you can't get a tour, you can book to visit the distillery on your own. The best part is to try out their whisky and unfortunately only 3 types are served per pax. I wish I could drink more as I love their whisky a lot. This distillery is simply amazing whereby we got to see the malting, mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation processes.”

645-6 Yufuincho Kawakita, Yufu, Oita 879-5114, Japan

“Ultra amazing experience at Iwashita collection. The owner MR Iwashita, age 68 (2019) is still working at the shop we managed to have a short chat with him. There are many different themes of display and staff are very knowledgeable and take pride in their collection. Definitely worth making a trip here. There are many vintage and retro items for sale too.”

671-1 Ihara, Itoman, Okinawa 901-0344, Japan

“In order to pass on the memory of war and the importance of peace to future generations, please be sure to stop by when you come to Okinawa.”

Kitayama-158 Misawa, Aomori 033-0022, Japan

“You can see airplanes, experience zero gravity in space, and experience science experiments. It was a facility that adults could also be excited about 🎵”

Japan, 〒130-0013 Tokyo, Sumida City, Kinshi, 2 Chome−2−1 アルカキット 2F

“I read other people's reviews saying that the customer service was good, and since it was my first time purchasing, I wanted to go to a place that had courteous customer service. When I asked what the price was, the female staff member said, ``Do you understand by saying that?'' and ``This is the price we charged based on the current condition of the diamond.'' There was no detailed explanation, and it was quite a bit. It became unpleasant. Maybe it was because I was a student that I was treated that way, but I wonder if it was the way I chose my words... I just did the assessment and went home.”

2 Chome-5-2 Enoshima, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-0036, Japan

“You can see a beautiful sunset from here.”

1 Chome-2-1 Shinko, Naka Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 231-0001, Japan

“Small, but fascinating Japan Coast Guard museum, housing a North Korean vessel and its story.”