[Autumn/Winter 2026] Ueno Museum Guide: Exhibitions at the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art and the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Plus Getting Around and Access

From autumn into winter 2026, major exhibitions overlap at the museums in Ueno Park (Ueno Onshi Park). The Tokyo National Museum is holding the special exhibitions “Daitokuji” and “Utagawa Hiroshige: Edo’s Best Angles.” The Tate Turner exhibition opened at the National Museum of Western Art on Saturday, October 24, and the Musée d’Orsay exhibition opens at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum on Saturday, November 14. This article summarizes the exhibitions, opening hours, prices, access and ways of getting around the main facilities in and around the park, based on each museum’s official information (as of October 20).

What can be seen in Ueno in autumn and winter 2026?

The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum opened on May 1, 1926 and marks its 100th anniversary this year. The museum describes itself as having been born as Japan’s first public art museum, made possible by a donation from Keitaro Sato, a businessman from Kyushu. As part of its 100th anniversary program, it holds the Musée d’Orsay exhibition and two free exhibitions this autumn and winter.

The Daitokuji exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum (TNM) commemorates the 700th anniversary of the founding of Daitokuji temple. According to the museum, it is the first exhibition in 41 years to bring together treasures normally closed to the public, and the first ever in Tokyo. The Hiroshige exhibition commemorates the donation of 1,025 ukiyo-e prints formerly owned by Susumu Uchiyama, and the museum positions it as TNM’s first full-scale Hiroshige exhibition.

In Western art, the runs of three exhibitions drawn from the collections of Tate, the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Musée d’Orsay overlap from mid-November to January 2027. With the National Museum of Nature and Science’s special exhibition “The Sexes of Living Things” (from October 31) also joining, major exhibitions continue in Ueno until March 2027.

Art museums: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, The Ueno Royal Museum and The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts

The National Museum of Western Art

The special exhibition “Turner from Tate: Painting the Sublime, in Dialogue with Contemporary Art” consists of more than 80 works from the Tate collection, including oil paintings and watercolors. Works by Turner such as “The Avalanche in the Grisons” are set chapter by chapter alongside postwar and contemporary works such as Olafur Eliasson’s “The glacier melt series 1999/2019.” University and high school students are admitted free from Wednesday, November 4 to Thursday, November 19.

In the Prints and Drawings Gallery of the permanent collection galleries, the small-scale exhibition “Images of the Theater” opened on Tuesday, October 20. It introduces theater culture centered on 19th-century Paris through about 50 prints, drawings and paintings by 19 artists, including Delacroix, Daumier, Toulouse-Lautrec and Klinger. It can be seen on the day only with a ticket for the permanent collection or the Turner exhibition. The permanent collection galleries will be closed from Tuesday, January 12 to Sunday, February 21, 2027. Following a revision by the Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art, admission to the permanent collection will be 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for university students from March 20, 2027.

Hours: 9:30–17:30 (until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays; last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (if a public or substitute holiday, open and closed the following weekday), Tuesday, November 24, the New Year holidays (December 28 – January 1, 2027) and Tuesday, January 12, 2027. The page for the small-scale exhibition also lists Friday, October 23 as a closed day
Admission: Permanent collection: adults 500 yen, university students 250 yen (from March 20, 2027, adults 1,000 yen, university students 500 yen; free for high school students and younger, those under 18 and those aged 65 and over). Turner exhibition: adults 2,400 yen, university students 1,500 yen, high school students 1,100 yen (free for junior high school students and younger)
Address: 7-7 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Access: 1-minute walk from JR Ueno Station (Park Exit), 7 minutes from Keisei Ueno Station, 8 minutes from Ueno Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza and Hibiya Lines. No parking
Official website: https://www.nmwa.go.jp/jp/visit/index.html

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

The special exhibition “What a Wonderful World: Masterworks from the Musée d’Orsay” consists of about 110 paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, photographs and other works in seven parts. According to the museum, Millet’s “The Gleaners” comes to Japan for the first time in 23 years, and Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and Gauguin’s “Arearea” for the first time in 16 years. Those aged 18 and under and high school students and younger are free, and university and vocational school students are also free on weekdays from Tuesday, December 8 to Friday, December 18.

From Thursday, November 19, two 100th anniversary exhibitions are held free of charge. The special exhibition “For You to Read the World” features five people: Alberto Giacometti, Momo Yamanishi, Shuntaro Tanikawa, Bikky Sunazawa and Elena Tutatchikova. “Opening the Beginning: 100 Years of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum” looks back on the museum’s history. Both run until Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday).

Hours: 9:30–17:30 (until 20:00 on Fridays during special exhibitions; last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: First and third Mondays (the following weekday if a public or substitute holiday). Special exhibitions are closed on Mondays. Maintenance closures December 21–28 and January 12, 2027; New Year holidays December 29 – January 3, 2027
Admission: Entry to the museum is free. Orsay exhibition: adults 2,400 yen, university and vocational school students 1,300 yen, 65 and over 1,600 yen (advance tickets 200 yen off each, until November 13)
Address: 8-36 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Access: 7-minute walk from the Park Gate of JR Ueno Station, 10 minutes from Exit 7 of Ueno Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza and Hibiya Lines, 10 minutes from Keisei Ueno Station. No parking
Official website: https://www.tobikan.jp/

The Ueno Royal Museum

“Cincinnati Art Museum Exhibition: European Treasures That Crossed to America” is on view until Sunday, January 10, 2027. According to the exhibition overview, 85 works are shown, 82 of them in Japan for the first time. The official website lists names such as Corot, Cézanne, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Picasso and Modigliani. No timed reservation is required, and university students and younger are admitted free on weekdays until Saturday, October 31 (proof required).

Hours: 10:00–17:00 (last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Open every day during the exhibition (including December 31 and January 1)
Admission: Adults 2,400 yen, high school, vocational school and university students 1,500 yen, elementary and junior high school students 800 yen (preschool children free)
Address: 1-2 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Access: 3-minute walk from the Park Exit of JR Ueno Station, 5 minutes from Ueno Station on the Tokyo Metro and Keisei lines
Official website: https://www.cincinnati-art2026.jp/

The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts

Opening hours and admission vary by exhibition, and the museum is closed between exhibitions. From Saturday, October 31 to Sunday, November 8, the Chinretsukan Gallery holds “Kiyoshi Furukawa Retirement Exhibition: Resonating Sound and Media – Media Art Music Today” free of charge. It consists of interactive works and hands-on corners, explanations through documentary footage and panels, and a media performance concert.

From Friday, November 20 to Wednesday, December 2, the Main Building holds the “Art Future Research Lab Exhibition 2026.” From Saturday, November 21 to Saturday, December 5, the Chinretsukan Gallery holds “Tokyo University of the Arts and Chinese Students: From Hu Gentian to the Present,” and both are free. From Saturday, March 27, 2027, the Main Building holds “Gems of the Idemitsu Collection at Geidai.” According to the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, the National Treasure “Ban Dainagon Emaki” (Illustrated Scrolls of the Courtier Ban Dainagon) will be shown in its entirety for the first time in 10 years.

Hours: Vary by exhibition (10:00–17:00 for the Furukawa, Art Future Research Lab and Chinese students exhibitions above; last entry 16:30)
Closed: Closed between exhibitions (closed days during exhibitions vary)
Address: 12-8 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Access: 10-minute walk from JR Ueno Station (Park Exit) and Nezu Station on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line (Exit 1). 15 minutes from Keisei Ueno Station (Main Exit) and Ueno Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya and Ginza Lines (Exit 7). No parking
Official website: https://museum.geidai.ac.jp/

Museums: Tokyo National Museum and National Museum of Nature and Science

Tokyo National Museum

The 700th anniversary special exhibition “Daitokuji: Japan’s Unrivaled Zen Temple” in the Heiseikan runs until Sunday, December 6. Its centerpiece is the National Treasure “Large Ido Tea Bowl, Named Kizaemon Ido” (Kohoan, Kyoto), and temple treasures, including those of subtemples and Daitokuji-school temples, are shown together. Admission is 2,300 yen for adults, 1,300 yen for university students and 900 yen for high school students, and free for junior high school students and younger. No advance reservation is required.

The special exhibition “Utagawa Hiroshige: Edo’s Best Angles” in Room A of the Honkan runs until Sunday, December 20. All works from his three great series, The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido and One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, are shown over three periods, with every work changed between periods. Period 2 began on Tuesday, October 27 and Period 3 on Wednesday, November 25. Admission is 1,500 yen for adults and 500 yen for university students, and there is a repeater discount of 100 yen off for adults who show a used ticket.

With a ticket for either special exhibition, visitors can also see the TNM Collection Exhibition (regular exhibition) on the same day. Since September 8, security checks with metal detectors and bag inspections have been carried out at the Main Gate, and suitcases have not been allowed since August 1. At busy times, there may be a wait of 30 minutes or more to buy tickets at the Main Gate ticket office, so the museum recommends buying online.

Hours: 9:30–17:00. Until 20:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays followed by a Monday holiday (last entry 30 minutes before closing). Special exhibitions are also open until 20:00 on Sunday, November 1, Monday, November 2 and Sunday, November 22
Closed: Mondays (if a holiday, open and closed the following weekday). Closed at year-end from Saturday, December 26 to Thursday, December 31; open 12:00–20:00 on Friday, January 1, 2027 (national holiday)
Admission: TNM Collection Exhibition: adults 1,000 yen, university students 500 yen (free for high school students and younger, those under 18 and those aged 70 and over)
Address: 13-9 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Access: 10-minute walk from the Park Exit of JR Ueno Station and the South Exit of Uguisudani Station. 15 minutes from Ueno Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza and Hibiya Lines, Nezu Station on the Chiyoda Line and Keisei Ueno Station. No parking
Official website: https://www.tnm.jp/

National Museum of Nature and Science

The special exhibition “The Sexes of Living Things” runs from Saturday, October 31, 2026 to Sunday, February 21, 2027. In five chapters, it introduces courtship dances and songs and mating behavior through video, audio and specimens. It also covers reproductive strategies such as sex determination by chromosomes or temperature, child-rearing and asexual reproduction. Admission is 2,300 yen for adults and university students and 600 yen for elementary, junior high and high school students. Free timed reservations are required on weekends and holidays, and visitors to the exhibition can also see the permanent exhibitions (Global Gallery and Japan Gallery) on the same day.

Hours: 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30)
Closed: Mondays (Tuesday if Sunday or Monday is a holiday), New Year holidays (December 28 – January 1). During the special exhibition, also closed on Wednesday, November 4, Tuesday, November 24 and Tuesday, January 12, 2027, and open on Monday, November 2, Monday, November 23 (national holiday) and other days
Admission: Permanent exhibitions: adults and university students 630 yen (free for elementary, junior high and high school students, those aged 65 and over and those under 18). The special exhibition is charged separately
Address: 7-20 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Access: 5-minute walk from JR Ueno Station (Park Exit). 10 minutes from Ueno Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza and Hibiya Lines and Keisei Ueno Station (Main Exit)
Official website: https://www.kahaku.go.jp/

Other facilities in the park: Kuroda Memorial Hall and the Former Tokyo Music School Sogakudo

The Tokyo National Museum’s Kuroda Memorial Hall displays works by Seiki Kuroda. In the Kuroda Memorial Room on the 2nd floor, preparatory drawings for “Telling an Ancient Romance,” a major work lost in the war, are on display until Sunday, January 17, 2027. The Special Room opens from Tuesday, October 27 to Sunday, November 8 and from Friday, January 1 (national holiday) to Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday). Admission is free, and opening hours are 9:30–17:00 year-round (last entry 16:30).

At the Taito City Former Tokyo Music School Sogakudo, the special exhibition “Poet Jukichi Yagi: Poetry Is a Sorrowful Joy” is held on open days from Sunday, November 1 to Friday, December 11. It introduces handwritten manuscripts, photographs and his poetry collections Aki no Hitomi (Autumn Eyes) and Mazushiki Shinto (The Poor Believer), among other items. The building is open on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays when the hall is not in use. It closes from Tuesday, December 15 to Monday, December 28 for construction work and other reasons, remains closed over the New Year holidays, and reopens on Tuesday, January 5, 2027.

Hours: 9:30–16:30 (last entry 16:00)
Closed: Mondays (the following weekday if a holiday), New Year holidays, special maintenance periods
Admission: Adults 300 yen, elementary, junior high and high school students 100 yen
Address: 8-43 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Official website: https://www.taitogeibun.net/sougakudou/

Getting around and access: Distances from the station, evening openings and combination tickets

According to each museum’s official information, the walking time from the Park Exit of JR Ueno Station is 1 minute to the National Museum of Western Art, 3 minutes to the Ueno Royal Museum and 5 minutes to the National Museum of Nature and Science. The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum gives 7 minutes from the Park Gate, and the Tokyo National Museum and the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts give 10 minutes. The Ueno Royal Museum and the National Museum of Nature and Science close at 17:00, as do the three exhibitions mentioned above at the University Art Museum. From late afternoon on, it is easier to make good use of time by saving the museums that close later for last. Museums and galleries in Yanaka, Nezu and Sendagi, within walking distance of Ueno Park, are introduced in our Yanaka, Nezu and Sendagi art guide.

On Fridays and Saturdays, the Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Western Art are open until 20:00. The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum is also open until 20:00 on Fridays from November 14, when the Orsay exhibition opens. From Friday, October 30 to Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday), TNM specially lights up the Honkan to coincide with the Ueno Park light event “Soene Akari Park® 2026.” The lights are on until 20:00 from October 30 to November 2 and until 18:00 on November 3. From October 30 to November 2, the TNM Collection Exhibition and the two special exhibitions are also open until 20:00 (until 17:00 on November 3). In Asakusa, three stops from Ueno on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, projection mapping is shown on the Main Hall and Hozomon Gate of Senso-ji Temple until Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday) (18:00–21:30, free to view; for details, see our article on the Senso-ji projection mapping).

As for combination tickets, there is the “Ueno Next-Door Set Ticket” (4,100 yen), which combines same-day tickets (adults and university students) for the Cincinnati Art Museum exhibition at the Ueno Royal Museum and “The Sexes of Living Things” at the National Museum of Nature and Science. It is 600 yen cheaper than buying them separately and is sold only through Ticket Pia from Saturday, October 31 to Thursday, December 31 (until the planned number is reached). At TNM, the National Museum of Western Art and the National Museum of Nature and Science, special exhibition tickets also give access to the permanent exhibitions on the same day. An overview of discounts in Tokyo is provided in our guide to the Grutto Pass and discounts.

Ueno in 2027: The Tale of Genji exhibition, the FF 40th anniversary exhibition and the Idemitsu Collection

From Tuesday, January 19 to Sunday, March 14, 2027, TNM will hold the special exhibition “The Tale of Genji: The Radiance of the Court,” touring from the Kyoto National Museum, in the Heiseikan. The museum’s page features the National Treasure “Illustrated Tale of Genji, Kashiwagi III” (Tokugawa Art Museum, Aichi). Admission is 2,400 yen for adults, with no advance reservation required. Evening openings are under consideration.

From Friday, January 8 to Sunday, April 4, 2027, the Hyokeikan will host the “Final Fantasy 40th Anniversary Exhibition: The World of Endless Fantasy.” According to the museum, it will be the first collaboration with cultural properties in TNM’s collection in the series’ 40-year history. From Wednesday, January 13, “Juufuutei Raden meets Tokyo National Museum” will offer a special audio guide and a puzzle-solving game in the TNM Collection Exhibition.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum plans a “Dufy Exhibition” from Saturday, April 24, 2027 and “From Rembrandt to Monet and Van Gogh: The Hammer Museum Exhibition” from Saturday, September 11, 2027. The National Museum of Western Art’s next special exhibition is “Pictures within Pictures: Adventures of Paintings about Paintings, from the Renaissance to the Present and Beyond,” opening on Saturday, September 18, 2027.

Frequently asked questions

Which museums in Ueno are open until 20:00?

On Fridays and Saturdays, the Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Western Art are open until 20:00. The Tokyo National Museum is also open until 20:00 on Sundays followed by a Monday holiday. The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum is open until 20:00 on Fridays during special exhibitions. The Ueno Royal Museum and the National Museum of Nature and Science close at 17:00.

Which exhibitions require reservations?

TNM’s Daitokuji and Hiroshige exhibitions and the Cincinnati Art Museum exhibition at the Ueno Royal Museum do not require advance reservations. “The Sexes of Living Things” at the National Museum of Nature and Science requires free timed reservations on weekends and holidays only. Even without a reservation, visitors can enter if there is space in an entry slot.

Which displays are free?

The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum’s two 100th anniversary exhibitions (from November 19) and the Kuroda Memorial Hall are free. The Furukawa exhibition at the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts and others are also free. On Culture Day, Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday), the TNM Collection Exhibition, the National Museum of Western Art’s permanent collection and the National Museum of Nature and Science’s permanent exhibitions are free. Other facilities are covered in our article on museums free on Culture Day.

Each museum’s closing and opening days over the New Year holidays are summarized in our roundup of Tokyo museums open over the year-end and New Year holidays. Other areas of Tokyo are introduced in our guides to Roppongi, Marunouchi, Kyobashi and Nihonbashi, Ryogoku and Kiyosumi-Shirakawa and Omotesando, Aoyama and Harajuku.

*Information as of October 20, 2026. Please check the official websites for the latest information.

*Top image: The Honkan of the Tokyo National Museum (photo: Wiiii, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on official announcements by each organizer and facility (as of October 20, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team

A note from the publisher

*Disclosure: “ASAKUSA CULTURE & LIGHTS 2026” (projection mapping on the Main Hall and Hozomon Gate of Senso-ji and the special viewing of the Denboin Garden and Emado), introduced in this article, is an event planned and produced by HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE (About us).