Museum · Nishi-Shinjuku

SOMPO Museum of Art SOMPO美術館

The Shinjuku museum where one of Van Gogh's Sunflowers hangs permanently, in a curved 2020 building at the foot of the Sompo Japan tower.

About

The insurer Yasuda Fire and Marine bought Van Gogh's Sunflowers at Christie's in 1987 for a then-record price, and the painting, one of the Arles series, now hangs behind glass at the end of every visit. The museum moved into its own six-storey building in 2020, a sleek curving structure next to the old Sompo Japan headquarters a few minutes from Shinjuku Station. It also holds a large group of works by Seiji Togo, whose dreamy, pale women were the museum's founding collection, along with Grandma Moses paintings. Exhibitions rotate several times a year and are usually on modern European or Japanese painting: autumn 2026 features French painter Albert Marquet (Sep 22 to Dec 13). The museum celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2026.

Highlights

• Van Gogh's Sunflowers, on permanent display
• Albert Marquet retrospective (Sep 22 – Dec 13, 2026)
• Seiji Togo collection of soft-focus modernist portraits
• Curving 2020 building with galleries descending floor by floor

Tips

• Sunflowers is shown at the end of the route on the lowest gallery floor; photography of it is usually not allowed.
• Fridays stay open until 20:00, the best time to beat crowds.
• Under-25s and high schoolers get big discounts; high school and under are usually free.
• Exit Shinjuku Station via the West Exit and walk past the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower.

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

Nearby

• Shinjuku Nomura Building Observation LobbyFree Observatories · 30 m away
• Mode Gakuen Cocoon TowerPhoto Spot · 120 m away
• Ramen Manrai (Shinjuku)Ramen & Noodles · 120 m away
• Bic Camera Shinjuku West ExitCamera Store · 180 m away
• LOVE Sculpture (Shinjuku I-Land)Statue & Monument · 210 m away
• Shot Bar ZoetropeBars & Nightlife · 270 m away
• Omoide YokochoIzakaya · 290 m away
• Shinjuku Used Camera MarketCamera Store · 310 m away