Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, known to locals as Tobikan, sits among the trees of Ueno Park a short walk from the Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Western Art. It opened in 1926 as the first public art museum in Japan, funded by the coal magnate Sato Keitaro, and it celebrates its centenary in 2026. Unlike most museums in this guide it has almost no permanent collection on show. Instead it is a place where exhibitions happen: large loan shows of Western and Japanese art on one side, and on the other the annual exhibitions of Japan's artist associations, where thousands of painters, calligraphers and sculptors from across the country show new work.

The present building was designed by Kunio Maekawa, a pupil of Le Corbusier and one of the fathers of modern Japanese architecture, and opened in 1975. It is a group of low, dark red brick blocks arranged around a sunken plaza, so that most of the galleries sit below ground level and the museum hides itself politely among the park's trees. A thorough renovation in 2010 to 2012 refreshed the interiors, added an art lounge, restaurants and a shop, and restored Maekawa's spaces with great care.

A first visit works best if you treat the building and its outdoor sculptures as the permanent exhibition and pick one or two of the current shows to go inside. Check the programme before you come, because what is on the walls changes every few weeks.