Asukayama Park and its three museums

photo by Syced · CC0

photo by Abasaa · Public domain

Shibusawa's two houses in the park are Cultural Properties; closed from 30/11/2026

A free monorail, the Asukalgo, climbs the slope to the top of the hill in a few minutes; on blossom-season weekends the queue for it is over half an hour. At the top, three museums tell the story of the local area, of paper and of the entrepreneur Shibusawa Eiichi; a pavilion of his from 1918 and a library from 1925 are Cultural Properties, closed for works until February 2027.

A public park on a hill in Ōji, planted with cherry trees at the wish of the shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune in the eighteenth century, among the first blossom-viewing places open to ordinary people. It holds three museums, each with its own management and ticket (the Asukayama Museum of Kita Ward, the Paper Museum and the Shibusawa Museum), plus two buildings that belonged to the entrepreneur Shibusawa Eiichi: the Bankōro pavilion (晩香廬, 1918) and the Seien Bunko library (青淵文庫, 1925), both designed by the architect Tanabe Junkichi and designated national Important Cultural Properties on 27 December 2005. The Shibusawa Museum, which gives access to the two buildings, closes for works from 30 November 2026 to 19 February 2027.

ℹ️ A public park, always accessible and free, with no gate and no opening hours. The three museums have their own tickets and hours, all 10:00–17:00, all closed on Mondays: Asukayama Museum of Kita Ward 300 yen (150 over-65s, 100 students); Paper Museum 400 yen (200 students); Shibusawa Museum 500 yen individual (400 in a group), including entry to the two historic buildings. The combined ticket for the three museums is suspended; from 1 July 2026 there is a reciprocal 20% discount when you show a ticket for one of the other two. ⚠️ The Shibusawa Museum, with the two historic buildings, is closed for works from 30 November 2026 to 19 February 2027. The free Asukalgo monorail climbs from the entrance to the top; on blossom-season weekends the queue to board it can exceed 30 minutes, and it is the recommended route for wheelchair users, as the park is on a hill.

🚉 Asukayama · 2 min walk

Sources: asukayama.jp · asukayama.jp · kunishitei.bunka.go.jp · kunishitei.bunka.go.jp · toshiseibi.metro.tokyo.lg.jp

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