Museum · Komaba

Japan Folk Crafts Museum (Nihon Mingeikan) 日本民藝館

Founded in 1936 by Soetsu Yanagi, father of the mingei movement, in a beautiful tiled-roof house in Komaba: hand-made pottery, textiles, lacquer and woodwork celebrating the beauty of everyday objects.

Hours10:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30)

ClosedMondays (Tue if Mon is a holiday), between exhibitions, year-end

PriceAdult: ¥1,500
High school / university student: ¥800
Junior high and under: Free

Getting thereKomaba-todaimae Station (Keio Inokashira Line, West Exit), 7 min

Time needed1 hour

Best timeWeekday mornings

Address4-3-33 Komaba, Meguro City, Tokyo

Websitemingeikan.or.jp/english

About

Philosopher Soetsu Yanagi coined the word mingei ('art of the people') to champion anonymous, hand-made everyday objects, and with potters Shoji Hamada and Kanjiro Kawai he built this museum to show them. The main building, designed by Yanagi himself, is a dark-timbered, white-plastered house with a grand wooden staircase, where Okinawan bingata textiles, Korean Joseon ceramics, Ainu robes, Tamba jars and English slipware sit side by side in wooden cases with no plastic or glare. Exhibitions rotate several times a year (2026 marks its 90th anniversary). Across the road, Yanagi's former residence and its stone-roofed nagayamon gate open on selected days. The shop sells excellent contemporary mingei crafts made by working artisans.

Highlights

Soetsu Yanagi's own house-like museum building with a monumental wooden staircase
Korean Joseon-dynasty ceramics and Okinawan textiles
Works by Shoji Hamada, Kanjiro Kawai and Bernard Leach
Yanagi's former residence (open on select days)
Shop of contemporary handmade crafts

Tips

Slippers are provided, shoes come off at the entrance.
Check if Yanagi's house across the street is open (usually on certain Wednesdays and Saturdays).
Two stops from Shibuya on the Keio Inokashira Line; Komaba-todaimae, then a quiet 7-minute walk past the University of Tokyo campus.
Photography is not allowed inside.

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

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Japan Folk Crafts Museum (Nihon Mingeikan) 日本民藝館

About

Highlights

Tips

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