Museum · Higashiyama-Shichijo

Kyoto National Museum 京都国立博物館

Kyoto's great museum of Japanese art and temple treasures, split between a red-brick 1897 Meiji hall and Yoshio Taniguchi's serene Heisei Chishinkan wing.

About

Founded in 1897, Kyohaku collects and preserves the art and cultural properties of Kyoto's temples and shrines, holding and caring for around 15,000 works, many of them National Treasures deposited by temples. The Heisei Chishinkan Wing, designed by Yoshio Taniguchi (architect of MoMA's 2004 expansion) and opened in 2014, hosts the Collection Galleries, rotating displays of Buddhist sculpture, painting, calligraphy, ceramics, textiles and lacquer. The original Meiji Kotokan, a red-brick French Renaissance building by Katayama Tokuma, is a National Important Cultural Property and is used for special events. The front garden has a Rodin Thinker and the museum's mascot, Toraryan, a tiger based on an Ogata Korin painting. Major special exhibitions each spring and autumn draw big crowds; during those, the Collection Galleries close.

Highlights

• Heisei Chishinkan wing by Yoshio Taniguchi
• Red-brick Meiji Kotokan of 1897
• Buddhist sculpture gallery with temple-deposited masterpieces
• Rodin's Thinker in the garden
• Toraryan, the tiger mascot

Tips

• Check the schedule: during special exhibitions the Collection Galleries are closed and prices are higher.
• Friday evenings are open until 20:00 and quiet.
• It faces Sanjusangendo; combine them.
• Under-18s and over-70s are free for the collection.

Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09

Nearby

• Yogen-in TempleLocal Secret · 130 m away
• Six Senses KyotoStay · 150 m away
• Touzan Bar (Hyatt Regency Kyoto)Bars & Nightlife · 240 m away
• SanjusangendoTemple · 250 m away
• Azuma ZushiSushi & Seafood · 320 m away
• Four Seasons Hotel KyotoStay · 320 m away
• Ichikawaya CoffeeCafé & Sweets · 380 m away
• Kawai Kanjiro's HouseMuseum · 420 m away