Museums and Collections in Japan

Discover 29 unusual museums and collections in Japan.

Commercials from some decades ago.

Ad Museum Tokyo

This museum celebrates the history of Japanese advertising, from feudal business tricks to modern T.V. commercials.

Kadokawa Musashino Museum

Tokorozawa, Japan

Kadokawa Musashino Museum

This airy five-floor library and museum houses thousands of books and rotating exhibits on Japanese monsters and anime.

Ancient Egypt Museum of Shibuya

Discover the mummified remains of Ancient Egypt in the middle of metropolitan Tokyo.

Japon Louvre Sculpture Museum

Japon Louvre Sculpture Museum

A lesser-known sister to Paris's world-famous museum, located within a Buddhist sculpture paradise.

The vault doors in the station concourse.

Yokohama, Japan

Bashamichi Station Concourse

Remnants of an old bank adorn this station's brick wall.

Antonio Inioki and Hulk Hogan.

Takayama, Japan

Takayama Shōwa-kan Museum

Its collection distills more than 60 years of pop culture in Japan, from Godzilla to Hulk Hogan.

Kite Museum.

Museum of Kites

This tiny museum hidden above a restaurant houses thousands of modern and traditional kites.

Shitamachi Museum.

Shitamachi Museum

A museum dedicated to the history of Tokyo's often-overlooked working-class district.

Permanently Closed

The studio's signature sign.

Ukiyoe Small Museum

A tiny collection of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, open only when the owner feels like it.

The entrance on the 2nd floor.

Intermediatheque

An unexpected curiosity cabinet hidden within a department store in the Japan Post tower.

A variety of tools on display.

Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum

A collection of the specialized tools used to construct Japan’s beautiful architecture.

Specimens on display.

Nagasaki, Japan

Museum of Tropical Medicine

A hub of information on tropical diseases and their treatments.

Decorative brushes at the Kumano Brush Festival.

Kumano-chō, Japan

Fudenosato Kobo Brush Museum

This little town supplies Japan with most of its calligraphy brushes, still made by hand from animal fur.

The entrance to Little World Museum of Man.

Inuyama-shi, Japan

Little World Museum of Man

An anthropological theme park that depicts the cultures of around 20 different countries.

Buckingham Palace sandcastle in 2012

Tottori-shi, Japan

The Sand Museum

Giant sand sculptures of famous people and places are on display near the Tottori sand dunes.

The bathhouse that inspired Miyazaki's "Spirited Away."

Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum

30 architectural gems from the 19th and early 20th century Tokyo were restored and relocated to this space.