Nezu Museum (根津美術館), Tokyo, Japan

This article was updated on 19 Sep 2021 to clarify taking the train or subway to get to the museum.

The Nezu Museum (根津美術館, Nezu Bijutsukan) is an art museum in the Minato district of Tokyo, Japan. The museum houses the private collection of pre-modern Japanese and East Asian art of Nezu Kaichirō (1860–1940), the former President of Tōbu Railway, and is built on Nezu's former residence and garden. Closed due to large-scale renovation and renewal in 2006, the museum re-opened in fall 2009 with a completely new museum building designed by the noted Japanese architect Kuma Kengo [1]. Kuma Kengo was also the architect for the modern redesign of the Akagi Shrine, which I reviewed in this earlier article: 

• https://ducksoupeasytravel.blogspot.com/2019/05/not-your-typical-japanese-shrine-akagi.html.

One of the defining architectural features of the Nezu Museum is the street entrance. The photograph of the entrance at the beginning of this article is the museum's most identifiable feature and is a tribute to Kuma Kengo's skill as an architect. As the museum is a very popular with both tourists and locals, it is really hard to get a photo without someone walking through it!

While it is worth a visit to view the art exhibits at the Nezu Museum when you're in Tokyo, for me the real reason to visit the museum is to see the garden. The site not only contains the museum, but also four tea houses and statuary within the garden. I last visited the museum on 29 Nov 2017, when the Fall colors were the most prominent and the garden most picturesque. Read the rest of the article to find out more information, and see more photographs of the museum and gardens.

Nezu Museum Street View

Kuma Kengo tried to create a sense of harmony between the museum building, its collection of artistic masterpieces, and the garden with a delicate and characteristically Japanese serenity. Reaching the museum from Omotesandō, a bustling street lined with fashionable shops, visitors are welcomed by a graceful approach surrounded by bamboo trees. The expanse of the massive roof and the quiet vertical line of the walls signal that one is entering a special place. Extensive use of glass in the entrance hall brings the magnificent garden and the Buddhist statues inside the museum into the same picture frame [2].

First Floor Gallery Buddhist Statue Exhibited by Garden Windows Overlooking the Café

The Nezu Museum building consists of two exhibit floors open to the public, with the first floor galleries showing Buddhist statues and the rotating exhibits, and the second floor galleries showing the permanent collection. Taking photographs in the galleries is prohibited, except for the Buddhist statues exhibited on the first floor entrance against the windows overlooking the gardens. Photography is permitted in the garden. Photography policies vary from museum to museum (video is universally prohibited without special permission) and those policies should be respected when visiting any museum in Japan.

 Nezu Museum Building Garden Entrance

There are four tea houses and a café in the garden. The tea houses are reserved for tea ceremonies, and are normally not open to the public except for certain days and for limited hours (i.e. not all hours the museum is open). See the Nezu Museum Event Information web page (Japanese only) for the days and hours when a tea room will be open to the public:

• http://www.nezu-muse.or.jp/jp/event/index.html

Admission to the museum, garden, café, and tea rooms is ¥1300 (price is accurate as of the published date of this article and is subject to change). The recommended course is to first see the museum exhibits, then tour the garden, and lastly making a stop at the café (in the garden) if desired.

Garden Path with Museum Building in the Background

Nezu Museum Garden Café

It so happened that the day I visited, people were gathering for a tea ceremony at one of the tea houses. The women in kimonos walking through the garden to the tea house not only made for a great photographic opportunity, but added to the atmosphere of the Japanese garden.

One of the Nezu Museum's Tea Houses

Tea House Entrance

Walking Past the Pond to the Tea House

Walking to the Tea House Past a Garden Statue

Tea Ceremony Gathering

Buddhist Statue in the Garden

Nezu Museum (根津美術館) Information and Access

Name:

• Nezu Museum

• 根津美術館

Address:

• 6 Chome-5-1 Minamiaoyama, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0062, Japan

• 〒107-0062 東京都港区南青山６丁目５−1

Access:

• Japan Rail Pass (7-, 14-, 21-day):

• Valid for travel throughout Japan on Japan Rail (with some exceptions).
• Purchase outside of Japan. Must show passport and have a short-term (90 day) visitor's stamp to redeem at selected airports and rail stations. (This is changing)
• Once activated, must be used on consecutive days (i.e. cannot skip days).
• Website: https://japanrailpass.net/en/.

• Plan your rail trip using Hyperdia: http://www.hyperdia.com/en/.

• The museum can be reached after a 21-minute walk from JR Harajuku Station (JY19) or after a 10-minute walk from Tokyo Metro Omotesandō Station (G02/Z02/C04).

• From Tokyo's JR Harajuku Station (JY19):
• Take the JR Yamanote Line (cost covered by the JR Pass) to Harajuku Station (JY19).

• Use the Omotesandō Exit and walk 21 minutes (1.6km/1 mile) downhill to the museum.
• Another option after using the Omotesandō Exit is to transfer to the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda subway line for one stop from Meiji-Jingumae ‘Harajuku’ Station (C03) to Omotesandō Station (C04).
• The subway fare is not covered by the JR Pass, and can be paid by Electronic IC Money card (e.g. JR East Suica).
• Fare: ¥170.
• See the "From Tokyo Metro Omotesandō Station" section below.

• From Tokyo Metro Omotesandō Station (G02/Z02/C04):

• Take the Tokyo Metro Ginza, Hanzōmon or Chiyoda subway lines to Omotesandō Station (G02/Z02/C04).

• 8-minute walk from Exit A5 (stairs only).
• 10-minute walk from Exit B4 (escalator).
• 10-minute walk from Exit B3 (elevator and escalator).

• Information and prices are accurate as of the published date of this article and are subject to change.

Hours and Admission:

• 10:00-17:00 (last entrance 16:30).

• Closed Mondays, during exhibition installations, and New Year's Holidays.

• Admission: ¥1300.

• Information and price are accurate as of the published date of this article and are subject to change.

Websites:

• Japan Rail Pass (7-, 14-, 21-day):

• https://japanrailpass.net/en/.

• Plan your rail/subway trip using Hyperdia:

• http://www.hyperdia.com/en/

• Nezu Museum English website:

• http://www.nezu-muse.or.jp/en/index.html.

• Nezu Museum Event Information (Japanese only):

• http://www.nezu-muse.or.jp/jp/event/index.html.

Map:

References

[1] Wikipedia. "Nezu Museum". Last accessed: 22 Dec 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nezu_Museum.

[2] Nezu Museum. "Building and Logo". Last accessed: 22 Dec 2019. http://www.nezu-muse.or.jp/en/about/info.html.

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