[2026–2027] Museum Closures and Reopenings: Mori Art Museum, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Sannomaru Shozokan and More

Museum closures and reopenings follow one after another from autumn 2026 into 2027. The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan fully opened on November 3, and the Hakone Museum of Art reopened on October 30. Meanwhile, in 2027 the Setagaya Art Museum, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, the Hiroshima Museum of Art and the Mori Art Museum will close in turn for renovation. This article summarizes the closure and reopening schedules confirmed in each museum’s official announcements, along with exhibitions that can be seen before the closures. Overseas, London’s V&A East Museum opened in April and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles in September, and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi opens on December 11. Hong Kong’s M+ marks its fifth anniversary in November.

Closure and reopening schedule for 2026–2027

• March 31, 2026: The Edo-Tokyo Museum reopens after renovation (Sumida-ku, Tokyo)

• June 29, 2026 – March 31, 2027 (planned): The Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art is closed (Marugame, Kagawa)

• From Thursday, October 1, 2026: Miraikan – The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation is closed, reopening on Friday, April 23, 2027 (Tokyo)

• Friday, October 30, 2026: The Hakone Museum of Art holds a pre-opening, with the main building galleries opening on December 23 (Hakone, Kanagawa)

• Tuesday, November 3, 2026 (national holiday): The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan fully opens (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)

• April 2027 – January 2030 (planned): The Setagaya Art Museum is closed (Setagaya-ku, Tokyo)

• May 2027 – March 2028: The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa is closed (Kanazawa, Ishikawa)

• Sunday, August 1, 2027 – Thursday, November 2, 2028 (planned): The Hiroshima Museum of Art is closed (Hiroshima City)

• From Friday, September 24, 2027: The Mori Art Museum is closed, with a reopening planned for late April 2028 (Roppongi, Tokyo)

Why are closures and renovations happening now?

What the museums’ announcements have in common is the renewal of buildings and equipment. The Hakone Museum of Art cites the need to address the aging of its building, some 70 years after it opened in 1952, and to preserve and make use of it as a cultural property. The Setagaya Art Museum says its facilities have aged in the roughly 40 years since completion and is undertaking its first major renovation under the city’s medium- to long-term maintenance plan. The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa cites equipment renewal and repair work, and the Mori Art Museum repairs and renovations of its facilities and equipment.

The details of the work also reflect the requirements of lending and borrowing works. The Hiroshima Museum of Art will build a new truck yard, sheltered from wind and rain during loading and unloading, to meet the standards for loans with museums in Japan and abroad. Conversion of lighting to LED is part of the work at both the Hiroshima Museum of Art and the Setagaya Art Museum.

The closures are concentrated in 2027. After the Setagaya Art Museum in April, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa closes in May, the Hiroshima Museum of Art in August and the Mori Art Museum in September. “Art Aquarium Museum GINZA” at Ginza Mitsukoshi ends its exhibition in Ginza on January 6, 2027 (our article on Art Aquarium Museum GINZA).

Museums reopening or fully opening in autumn 2026

The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo): full opening on November 3

The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan, which houses artworks associated with the imperial family, fully opened on Tuesday, November 3, 2026 (national holiday). The museum opened in the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace in 1993, and since 2019 a new facility with expanded storage and galleries has been under construction. In 2023 its management and operation were transferred from the Imperial Household Agency to the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, and it partially opened that November. It had been temporarily closed since May 2025 while construction continued. The new facility houses galleries, an auditorium and a museum shop.

There are three special exhibitions commemorating the opening. “Treasures of the Imperial Household: Where Beauty Springs Forth” (until January 24, 2027) changes all its works across three periods and is the first exhibition of Shosoin treasures within the Imperial Palace. “National Treasure ‘Colorful Realm of Living Beings’: A World of Color” (February 4 – March 14, 2027) shows all 30 scrolls of Ito Jakuchu’s “Colorful Realm of Living Beings” together, reportedly the first such complete display in Japan in about 10 years. “1,300 Years of the Beauty of Japanese Calligraphy” (March 25 – May 16, 2027) introduces works including Wang Xizhi’s “Sangluan Tie.” Details are in our article on the full opening of the Sannomaru Shozokan.

Full opening: Tuesday, November 3, 2026 (national holiday)
Admission: Commemorative special exhibitions 2,500 yen for adults (3,000 yen for the “Colorful Realm of Living Beings” exhibition). Timed entry; no same-day tickets sold at the venue
Address: East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, 1-8 Chiyoda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Official website: https://shozokan.nich.go.jp/

Hakone Museum of Art (Hakone, Kanagawa): pre-opening on October 30

The Hakone Museum of Art, opened in 1952, ended the full closure that began on May 7 and held a pre-opening on Friday, October 30. It begins by opening a café newly set up in the rest house and the galleries in the annex, and opens the renovated galleries in the main building on December 23. The buildings were registered as national Tangible Cultural Properties in 2021. The collection centers on Japanese ceramics, from Jomon-period earthenware through the jars and pots of the Six Ancient Kilns to the Edo period. Details are in our article on the Hakone Museum of Art’s reopening.

Reopening: Pre-opening on Friday, October 30, 2026; main building galleries open on December 23
Admission: Adults 1,000 yen, high school and university students 500 yen, junior high school students and younger and people with disabilities free (pre-opening tickets)
Address: 1300 Gora, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture
Official website: https://www.moaart.or.jp/hakone/

Edo-Tokyo Museum (Sumida-ku, Tokyo): reopened in March 2026

The Edo-Tokyo Museum reopened on March 31, 2026 after renovation. In the permanent exhibition galleries, the structure and presentation of the displays were revised to convey the two eras of Edo and Tokyo more clearly and vividly. Visitors to the renovated permanent galleries reached one million, marked by a ceremony on Wednesday, October 14. From Saturday, November 28, the museum holds the reopening commemorative special exhibition “Maruyama Okyo: Beyond the Real – A Spatial Revolution” until January 24, 2027.

Reopening: March 31, 2026
Address: 1-4-1 Yokoami, Sumida-ku, Tokyo
Official website: https://www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp/

Museums currently closed, reopening in spring 2027

Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (Marugame, Kagawa): closed until March 31, 2027 (planned)

The Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (MIMOCA) has been closed for facility renovation since June 29, 2026. The closure is scheduled to last until March 31, 2027, and the museum says it will announce the period once it is finalized. Café MIMOCA is closed for the same period, while the online shop remains available as usual.

During the closure, the museum is holding programs outside its walls. At Japan Society in New York, “Gen’ichirō Inokuma’s NYC Salon,” co-organized with the museum, is on view from Tuesday, October 6, 2026 to Sunday, January 10, 2027. Described as the first solo exhibition of Genichiro Inokuma (1902–1993) at a New York museum, it focuses on the roughly 20 years after he moved to the United States in 1955.

Closure period: June 29, 2026 – March 31, 2027 (planned)
Official website: https://www.mimoca.jp/

Miraikan – The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Tokyo): reopening on April 23, 2027

Among science museums, Miraikan – The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation has been fully closed since Thursday, October 1, 2026 for about half a year of repair work on its aging building and equipment. It will reopen on Friday, April 23, 2027, unveiling new permanent exhibitions on the themes of the genome and the brain and adding a new film to the Dome Theater.

Closed: From Thursday, October 1, 2026
Reopening: Friday, April 23, 2027
Official website: https://www.miraikan.jst.go.jp/

Museums closing from 2027, and exhibitions to see before they close

Setagaya Art Museum (Setagaya-ku, Tokyo): closed for about two years and ten months from April 2027

The Setagaya Art Museum will close for about two years and ten months, from April 2027 to January 2030 (planned), for major renovation work, with a reopening planned for February 2030. Fittings, elevators, interiors and waterproofing will be renewed, lighting will be converted to LED and the air conditioning in the storage rooms will be renovated. During the closure, the grounds, including the garden, will be inaccessible, and the restaurant and café will close for good when the museum closes.

Before the closure, the museum holds “Etcher Tetsuro Komai: Like Constellations Spreading in the Palm of a Hand” from Saturday, November 28, 2026 to Sunday, January 31, 2027 (our article on the Tetsuro Komai exhibition). It will be followed from February 13 to March 31, 2027 by “Selections from the Setagaya Art Museum Collection: Planet of Life – We of the Setabi Forest.”

Closure period: April 2027 – January 2030 (planned)
Address: 1-2 Kinuta Park, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Official website: https://www.setagayaartmuseum.or.jp/

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Kanazawa, Ishikawa): closed from May 2027 to March 2028

The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa will be closed for an extended period, from May 2027 to March 2028, for equipment renewal and repair work. Its last special exhibition before the closure, “From Today to Tomorrow: Carrying Works Forward,” runs from Saturday, October 31, 2026 to Sunday, April 18, 2027. The exhibition reconsiders what it means to carry works into the future and shows James Turrell’s “Gas Works” for the first time in 16 years. Details are in our article on the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa’s closure.

Closure period: May 2027 – March 2028
Special exhibition before the closure: “From Today to Tomorrow: Carrying Works Forward,” adults 1,200 yen
Official website: https://www.kanazawa21.jp/

Hiroshima Museum of Art (Hiroshima City): closed from August 2027 to November 2028 (planned)

The Hiroshima Museum of Art plans to close for major renovation work from Sunday, August 1, 2027 to Thursday, November 2, 2028. In addition to exhibitions, the museum shop and Café Jardin will also close. The aims are the proper preservation and management of works, improved convenience and a safe, comfortable viewing environment. A truck yard and an indoor corridor will be newly built, the exterior walls cleaned and the lighting converted to LED.

From spring 2027 to autumn 2028, including the closure period, a touring exhibition of the “Hiroshima Museum of Art Collection” is planned at seven museums across Japan. The reopening is planned for Friday, November 3, 2028, the museum’s 50th anniversary, with a large special exhibition related to Impressionism in the works. Currently on view until Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday) is “Artists Who Gathered at the ‘Café’: From the Impressionists to Van Gogh, Lautrec and Picasso,” the museum’s first joint project with the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum (our article on the “Café” artists exhibition).

Closure period: Sunday, August 1, 2027 – Thursday, November 2, 2028 (planned)
Reopening: Friday, November 3, 2028 (planned)
Address: 3-2 Motomachi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City
Official website: https://www.hiroshima-museum.jp/

Mori Art Museum (Roppongi, Tokyo): closed from September 24, 2027

The Mori Art Museum will close from Friday, September 24, 2027 for repairs and renovation of its facilities and equipment, with a reopening planned for late April 2028. Before the closure, it holds “Mariko Mori: All That Shines” from Saturday, October 31, 2026 (until March 28, 2027), followed from Thursday, April 29 (national holiday) to Thursday, September 23 (national holiday), 2027 by “The World Is Made of Play: Art, Children and Society,” an exhibition that reexamines “play” through participatory works and immersive installations (our article on the Mori Art Museum’s closure).

Closed: From Friday, September 24, 2027
Reopening: Late April 2028 (planned)
Location: Roppongi Hills Mori Tower 53F (Roppongi, Tokyo)
Official website: https://www.mori.art.museum/jp/

Frequently asked questions

Which museums begin closures in 2027?

Four have been confirmed in official announcements: the Setagaya Art Museum closes in April, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa in May, the Hiroshima Museum of Art on August 1 and the Mori Art Museum on September 24. The planned reopenings are late April 2028 for the Mori Art Museum, November 3, 2028 for the Hiroshima Museum of Art and February 2030 for the Setagaya Art Museum. The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa says its closure will last until March 2028.

Is there a way to see the works during the closures?

The Hiroshima Museum of Art plans a touring exhibition at seven museums across Japan from spring 2027 to autumn 2028 and will announce the host museums in turn. The Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art is holding programs outside the museum during its closure, and an exhibition of Genichiro Inokuma is on view in New York. The Setagaya Art Museum is considering displays of its collection and exhibitions at other museums during its closure.

Do the Sannomaru Shozokan’s commemorative special exhibitions require reservations?

All three special exhibitions use timed entry, and no same-day tickets are sold at the venue. Those under 23 and university, high school and junior high school students are admitted free but must reserve in advance. Elementary school students and younger, as well as holders of a disability certificate and one companion each, are admitted free with no reservation required.

Closing days over the year-end and New Year holidays and New Year opening dates are organized in our roundup of Tokyo museums open over the year-end and New Year holidays.

*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Exterior of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (photo: Kanazawa City, CC BY 2.1 JP, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on official announcements from each organizer and venue (as of October 19, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team