Concierge Choice

Top Sights

• Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
  Housed in an elegant former residence built in 1938, the collection is a rich cross-section of international works from 1950 onward. Enjoy the sculpture garden over lunch in the Arata Isozaki-designed café.
  
  Kita Shinagawa 4-7-25, Shinagawa-ku
  (81-3) 3445 0651 haramuseum.or.jp
  
• Happo-en
  On weekdays, you can book a traditional tea ceremony at the Muan Teahouse, and enjoy a stroll through the extensive Japanese gardens, with or without lunch or dinner included.
  
  Shirokanedai 1-1-1, Minato-ku
  Tel: (81-3) 3443 3111
• Kabuki, Bunraku, and Noh Performances
  The stylised movements and elaborate costumery of Japan’s traditional performing arts make for a truly local and unique experience. Shinbashi Enbujo is home to kabuki performances, while the Japan Arts Council site provides listings for noh and bunraku shows at various national theatres.
   
  Shinbashi Enbujo Theatre
  Ginza 6-18-2, Chuo-ku
  (81-3 ) 3541 2600  kabuki-bito.jp
  Japan Arts Council  www.ntj.jac.go.jp
  
• Meiji Shrine
  Anchoring the high-end fashion front of Omotesando is this heavily wooded Shinto shrine, a favourite oasis of birdwatchers and nature lovers. Autumn offers plenty of unique cultural events, too: on 2 October a festival to thank retired dolls will be held, while recitations of poems in classic style can be enjoyed on 24 October. A Chrysanthemum exhibition runs from 31 October to 23 November, and between the shrine's 91st anniversary on 1 November and its Autumn Grand Festival on 3 November, performances of court music, dance, and noh will be held along with displays of archery and other martial arts. On and around 15 November, photographic opportunities abound as families bring their festively dressed 3-, 5-, and 7-year-olds to the shrine for blessings. The annual Harvest Ceremony takes place on 23 November, and on the evening of 31 December you can join the throngs of thousands who visit to ring in the New Year.
  
  Shibuya-ku, at Harajuku and Meiji-jingumae stations
  
  (81-3) 3379 5511 meijijingu.or.jp
  
• Metropolitan Gardens
  Nine historical landscaped gardens – the former estates of shogun, feudal lords, and other magnates – dot the city, giving respite to photography buffs and all who visit.
  
  teien.tokyo-park.or.jp
  
• Musée Tomo
  Dramatically atmospheric, this is the finest place in the city for viewing contemporary ceramic art. The permanent holdings, from the famed Kikuchi Tomo Collection, rotate regularly.
  
  Toranomon 4-1-35, Minato-ku
  (81-3) 5733 5131  musee-tomo.or.jp
• Mitsukoshi Food Floor
  Japan’s oldest department store, Mitsukoshi is the Harrods of Tokyo. The basement food floor of the Ginza branch should not be missed.
  
  B1-B2/F, Mitsukoshi Department Store, Ginza 4-6-16, Chuo-ku
  Tel: (81-3) 3562 1111
• Nezu Museum
  One of the city’s most beloved oases, Nezu Museum invites with a strolling garden and celebrated holdings in Eastern art that include several National Treasures and dozens of Important Cultural Properties. Surrounded by trees yet filled with natural light, the Nezu Café is a relaxing place for lunch or tea.
  
  Treasured Japanese Swords
  8 October – 6 November 2011
  
  Chinese Ceramics, Lacquer and Bronzes
  16 November – 25 December 2011
  
  Minami Aoyama 6-5-1, Minato-ku
  (81-3) 3400 2536  nezu-muse.or.jp
• Nihon Mingeikan
  Unique among Tokyo museums for its dedication to works of beauty by anonymous artisans, The Japan Folk Crafts Museum is subdued, unpretentious, and exquisitely tasteful – don’t miss it.
  
  Folk Paintings of the Joseon Dynasty
  13 September – 23 November 2011
  
  Annual ExhibitionandSale of Newly Designed Handiworks
  10 – 23 December 2011
  
  Komaba 4-3-33, Meguro-ku
  (81-3) 3467 4527 mingeikan.x0.com
  
• Ota Memorial Museum of Art
  This intimate gallery is dedicated to showing ukiyo-e masterpieces from the birth of the tradition onward.
  
  Ukiyo-e of the Warring States Period
  1 – 26 October and 1 –27 November 2011
  
  Selections from the Permanent Holdings
  1 – 18 December 2011
  
  Jingumae 1-10-10, Shibuya-ku
  (81-3) 3403 0880  ukiyoe-ota-muse.jp
  
• Tokyo Sky Tree Info Plaza
  The world's tallest free-standing communications tower and the tallest structure in Japan at 634 metres (2,080 feet), Tokyo Sky Tree is scheduled for completion in February 2012 and a grand opening on 22 May 2012. Learn more about its technology and ongoing construction at this temporary information centre located just across the Sumida River from Asakusa.
  
  Mukojima 1-33-12, Sumida-ku
  Tel: (81-3) 6658 8012   tokyo-skytree.jp
  
• Ueno Park Museums
  Art, culture, and history buffs should allow ample time for Ueno Park, where the world’s largest collection of Japanese art can be seen at the Tokyo National Museum, a complex including the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures by MoMA architect Yoshio Taniguchi. Also within the park are Le Corbusier’s National Museum of Western Art and the National Museum of Nature and Science, with plenty of hands-on exhibits for kids.
  
  Tokyo National Museum
  
  Honen and Shinran: Treasures of the Great Masters of Kamakura Buddhism
  25 October – 4 December 2011
  
  Ueno Koen 13-9, Taito-ku
  +81 3 3822 1111 tnm.jp
  
  The National Museum of Western Art
  
  Goya: Lights and Shadows – Masterpieces of the Museo Nacionaldel Prado
  22 October 2011 – 29 January 2012
  
  Ueno Koen 7-7, Taito-ku+81 3 3828 5131
  www.nmwa.go.jp
  
  National Museum of Nature and Science
  Permanent exhibits address evolution, biodiversity, dinosaurs, progress in science and technology, hands-on experiments, woodland wonders, and more. Theater 360, offering a 360-degree field of vision, shows short films in rotation that explore such topics as dinosaurs, stars, the marine food chain, and the earth’s changing mantle.
  
  Ueno Koen 7-20, Taito-ku
  +81 3 3822 0111 www.kahaku.go.jp