Japanese Sword Museum

photo by Edomura no Tokuzo (江戸村のとくぞう) · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by Edomura no Tokuzo (江戸村のとくぞう) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tokyo's only museum devoted to the sword: 1,000 yen, closed Mondays, in Kyū-Yasuda.

In the Kyū-Yasuda garden, in a 2018 building designed by Fumihiko Maki, the museum displays katana donated or lent for safekeeping by private collectors, with exhibitions that change about every two months: if you come back after some time, you see different pieces. On the ground floor, with free entry, panels and videos show the forging process.

The museum, run by the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords (NBTHK), moved here in January 2018 from its old Shibuya premises, closed in March 2017. It is the only museum in Tokyo devoted entirely to the Japanese sword (katana and other blades); it has no permanent collection on fixed display, so two visits months apart show different pieces, for better or worse depending on the visitor's taste.

ℹ️ Open 9:30–17:00, last entry 16:30 (official site, touken.or.jp); closed on Mondays (Tuesday if Monday is a public holiday), during exhibition changeovers and at the end of the year. Ticket 1,000 yen adults, with 100 yen off if you show a Hokusai Museum ticket. The ground floor, with the forging process, has free entry. A monocular is lent free of charge in the third-floor room.

🚉 Ryogoku · 6 min walk

Sources: touken.or.jp · touken.or.jp

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