Top 10 Museums in Shinjuku, Kanto

August 8, 2021 Marlin Saiz

In busy Shinjuku, you’ll find some of the tallest buildings in Toyko, as well as tons of shopping malls, bars and clubs. To escape the hustle and bustle, TripAdvisor travelers recommend visiting Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, a beautiful and peaceful park in the middle of the city.
Restaurants in Shinjuku

1. Hobby Center Kato Tokyo

1-24-10 Nishiochiai, Shinjuku 161-0031 Tokyo Prefecture +81 3-3954-2171 http://www.katomodels.com/hobbycenter/tokyo.php
Excellent
58%
Good
30%
Satisfactory
8%
Poor
2%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 60 reviews

Hobby Center Kato Tokyo

Reviewed By AndyinOmaha - Omaha, United States

The Kato Hobby Center in Shinjuku is a dream destination for any kid -- or dad -- who's loved playing with model trains at any time in his life. There are full-size displays of running model trains, in gauges (in the same layout) of HO through N. The detail is amazing, and the quality for modelers is top-notch. Upstairs are layouts where kids can bring their own trains in for test runs and play. The Hobby Center is also a retail outlet for full train "Starter Sets" [tracks, power packs, and engine with train cars] as well as individual train cars/engines....plus every imagninable replacement part in bins. Kato makes train cars of all types of Japan's railways, European railways, and the US as well. The coolest thing they make (quoting the TSA inspector who examined my carry-on luggage as I re-entered the USA) is the nifty N gauge starter set of the brand new N700 "Nozomi" series of the shinkansen [bullet train] that runs on the Tokyo to Hiroshima Tokaido route. A VERY cool souvenir for anyone who loves model trains. The Hobby Center is located beyond Shinjuku, which makes it a distant (and expensive) 5,000 yen cab ride if you're coming from the heart of Tokyo. I never could have found the place without a cabbie with GPS, so it's worth the extra yen to get there directly.

2. Waseda University Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum

1-6-1 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku 169-8050 Tokyo Prefecture +81 3-5286-1829 http://www.waseda.jp/enpaku/
Excellent
48%
Good
42%
Satisfactory
10%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 50 reviews

Waseda University Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum

3. Samurai Museum

2-25-6 Eiwa Dairoku Bldg 1F, Kabukicho, Shinjuku 160-0021 Tokyo Prefecture +81 3-6457-6411 [email protected] http://www.samuraimuseum.jp/en/
Excellent
67%
Good
24%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
1%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 1,906 reviews

Samurai Museum

Feel the real Samurai spirit.Samurai Museum is located in the KABUKICHO district of Shinjuku, which is one of the urban areas in Tokyo. It displays various kinds of authentic artifacts such as Samurai armor, helmets and weapons. The mission for the museum is to share true Samurai spirits with you so that you can have a better understanding of Samurai , including how they fought, who they were, what they believed. The museum offers an English guided tour that runs frequently for you to learn rich Samurai history at a deeper level. Many interesting facts about Samurai are covered in this tour.In addition, it has a photo booth where you are allowed to take pictures wearing Samurai outfits or Kimono. Also, the museum offers a special sword show at 2,3,4 and 5 pm everyday for you to watch two trained actors doing a sword fighting performance. The Museum shop is also worth visiting to buy cool gifts such as Katana.

Reviewed By jason3216

The museum has a private collection of some of the best samurai armor, swords and other accessories I have seen. There are guided tours in English that run about every hour (About 1hr duration). Tickets are reasonably priced and includes an informative guided tour, a chance to try on a samurai helmet with a sword as well as other garments such as kimonos. There is also a samurai sword-wielding demonstration that runs at set intervals during the day (You can return during the day to see the demonstration). Easy walking distance from Shinjuku station. A must see.

4. Fire Museum

3-10, Yotsuya, Shinjuku 160-0004 Tokyo Prefecture +81 3-3353-9119 http://www.tfd.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/ts/museum.html
Excellent
36%
Good
49%
Satisfactory
14%
Poor
0%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 266 reviews

Fire Museum

Reviewed By Valkyrie_108

I had this museum high on my list considering my father is a firefighter in Australia. The history levels and the static displays of the fire fighting equipment was fascinating, comparable to the Fire Museum in Penrith, Australia with the amount of displays of vehicles, in air sea and on the ground. The day I visited, the displays you could usually sit in where closed to the public; though you could still view them. It will be on my father's list to visit when he is able to.

5. Fumiko Hayashi Memorial Hall

2-20-1 Nakai, Shinjuku 161-0035 Tokyo Prefecture +81 3-5996-9207 http://www.regasu-shinjuku.or.jp/rekihaku/fumiko/12/
Excellent
30%
Good
50%
Satisfactory
20%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 40 reviews

Fumiko Hayashi Memorial Hall

3-20-2, Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku 163-1403 Tokyo Prefecture +81 3-5777-8600 http://www.operacity.jp/ag/
Excellent
24%
Good
58%
Satisfactory
18%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 55 reviews

Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery

7. Nikon Plaza Shinjuku

1-6-1 Shinjuku L Tower 28F, Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku 163-1528 Tokyo Prefecture +81 570-028-080 http://www.nikon-image.com/support/showroom/shinjuku/
Excellent
36%
Good
29%
Satisfactory
36%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 14 reviews

Nikon Plaza Shinjuku

5-18-11 Shinjuku, Shinjuku 160-0022 Tokyo Prefecture +81 3-5285-8822 [email protected] http://www.gankagarou.com/
Excellent
40%
Good
20%
Satisfactory
40%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 5 reviews

Shinjuku Ophthalmologist Gallery

1-1 Kasumigaokamachi, Shinjuku 160-0013 Tokyo Prefecture +81 3-3401-5179 http://www.meijijingugaien.jp/art-culture/seitoku-gallery/
Excellent
23%
Good
49%
Satisfactory
22%
Poor
2%
Terrible
4%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 81 reviews

Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery

Reviewed By SilverTeaPot

Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery is like no other picture gallery that I’ve been too. What made it special? Before visiting, I’d never heard of the gallery. We seemed to stumble upon it after, visiting the Japan 2020 Olympics stadium ion the making, and wandered around the car park until we found the entrance and ventured inside. I checked on Trip Advisor, and it's currently listed as the 49th of 397 things to do in Shinjuku. That astonishes me! That there could be 48 other better things to do in Shinjuku… I find everything about this gallery fascinating. Let me share with you what the brochure says about the gallery. Gaien was constructed with donation collected by an organisation of individual supporters formed to remember the virtues of the Imperial couple all through the ages. It was completed on Oct 22, 1926, and donated to Meiji Jingu Gaien. The outer garden covers an area of 330 000 square metres. Sports facilities around the venue include baseball, golf driving range, softball, footsul, tennis, and an ice-skating rink. So the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery is in the centre of The Outer Garden, or this huge park, which I guess is why we found it after visiting the Olympics venue. Still so many interesting things about this gallery… The gallery depicts the events from birth to the demise of the Meiji Emperor in chronological order. There are exactly 80- images. Every image steps you through the timeline. Fortunately, there was a detailed English translation, it was not perfect, but you got the jist of what was happening. The first 40 works are Japanese style paintings, while the later 40 works are Western-style works. I find it fascinating that they went with one style and then swapped to another style, and opted for a Western-style – why? What does this mean? Now here is the thing I found most interesting. Each painting is 3 m * 2.7 metres, almost a square. The place is like a huge gallery purpose-built for Instagram. Every image practically is a perfect Instagram image. Obviously, it was designed and built many years before Insta, but it was so perfect, this OLD gallery, on such NEW technology. All the images are done by different artists, and they entered a competition, there were 156 entries, and from that, the 80 works in the gallery were chosen. “Meiji” is the name of the era (1868 to 1912) in which Emperor Meiji ruled. Emperor Meiji (1852 – 1912) is the 122nd emperor of Japan, the great grandfather of the current Emperor. His wife was Empress Shoken (1850 – 1914)

10. Memorial Museum for Soldiers, Detainees in Siberia, and Postwar Repatriates

2-6-1 Shinjuku Sumitomo Bldg. 48F, Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku 163-0248 Tokyo Prefecture +81 3-5323-8709 http://www.heiwakinen.go.jp/
Excellent
29%
Good
39%
Satisfactory
31%
Poor
0%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 51 reviews

Memorial Museum for Soldiers, Detainees in Siberia, and Postwar Repatriates

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