Tokyo | Rainy days are perfect for visiting the Nezu Museum designed by Kengo Kuma
If you like Japanese gardens and Kengo Kuma's designs, then the Nezu Museum located in Minami Aoyama is a must-visit.
This private museum, created by Kaichiro Nezu, is also a symbol of Japan's old wealth. He had a personal liking for antiques, bronzes, and Buddhist statues. The museum was originally Nezu's private residence, which was later redesigned by Kengo Kuma into a museum and opened to the public.
Apart from the museum's own collection, the Japanese garden is also a highlight, featuring a Japanese tea house surrounded by greenery.
However, many of the museum's collections are Chinese Buddha heads, which are quite thought-provoking to see.
☕️Nezu Cafe:
Many people visit Nezu, and a big reason must be for this tea house! This cafe, also designed by Kengo Kuma and hidden in the Japanese garden, is enveloped in greenery and is very photogenic. The seats by the window are the most popular.
The coffee and desserts here are decent without being exceptional, and the prices are not expensive.
📸Photography tips:
If you want to capture the Nezu Museum without any disturbances, look no further
✅Best time to shoot:
Weekdays, rainy days, just before closing or right after opening.
This timing is particularly important. On the day I visited, it was a light rainy weekday in Tokyo, so there were relatively few tourists.
✅How to get a shot of the usually busy Nezu cafe without people?
The tea house actually closes at 4:30 pm, so they stop serving customers after 4 pm. I was actually the last customer that day, and even the tables were already cleaned up. That's how I managed to take pictures freely.
✅Take a shot of the bamboo grove corridor at the entrance before leaving the museum to capture an empty scene
✅A light rainy day is ideal for shooting the garden, as walking with an umbrella in the Japanese garden is very pleasant. If you get tired, you can sit down in a small pavilion and listen to the rain.
🎫Ticket: No reservation needed, just buy on-site
⏰Business hours: 10:00-17:00 (Closed on Mondays)
🌿Surroundings:
🔶Shopping:
After visiting the Nezu Museum, you can shop around Minami Aoyama. There are stores like Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo, Prada, Lelabo, etc. I also bought a limited edition flap shoulder from Issey Miyake here, which I haven't seen in China, so no worries about clashing bags. Omotesando and Roppongi are not far from here.
🔶Museums:
If you have an entire afternoon for exhibitions, you can also visit the National Art Center and the Mori Art Museum, with the Mori Art Museum being a perfect spot to end the day with a sunset or night view. (See other notes for details)
🔶Food:
After coming out of the Mori Art Museum, you can have dinner in Roppongi Hills or Omotesando, or take a stroll to the nearby Azabu Juban.
This is a stylish museum designed by Noriaki Kurokawa, which is well-known, located directly connected to Nogizaka Station and a 5-minute walk from Roppongi Station. ✨✨ Some special exhibitions are always held. There are 3 cafes in the building, and the chairs used are designer chairs, making it a cozy art space no matter where you cut it. The museum shop also changes the products that are placed every season, and it is good for a little souvenir! It is a museum that you want to take time slowly in the sense of spaciousness and depth, and the liberation of the ceiling atrium ❣️
National New Art Museum (The National Art Center, Tokyo) is a museum located in the port area of Tokyo, Japan, opened on January 21, 2007, is the fifth national art museum in Japan since the National International Art Museum (opened in 1977). The museum is led by the National New Art Museum of the Japanese Department of Culture and the National Art Museum of the Administrative Corporation, located at the former site of the Production Institute of the University of Tokyo. The floor area of the National New Art Museum is the largest in Japan, about1.5 times the size of the second largest Daegu International Art Museum.
This building pays great attention to energy saving and environmental protection, making full use of natural light lighting, with rainwater reuse, underground natural ventilation and other functions. Interestingly, the gallery does not have any collections, it creates excellent spaces for exhibitions, and often holds public fundraising exhibitions for new artists to appear on the show.
Unfortunately, all of them are paid exhibitions. One is an exhibition of painting, photography and sculpture by Salvador Dalii, a famous Spanish painter. The year of birth and death was 1904-1989. The painter not only had the spirit of classicism, but also was influenced by Picasso, and also had the style of postmodernism. The cost of the visit is 1600 yen. There are also nine exhibition halls opened today, the third Japanese Art Exhibition. The fare is 1200 yen. The exhibition area of nearly 15,000 square meters is the largest exhibition hall in Japan. The Museum takes the art gallery in the forest as its construction concept, fully considering the integration of human, architecture and natural environment. The main cone glass entrance hall porch design allows people to have a transition before entering the development area to adapt to the large and empty hall of the exhibition hall. Two inverted cone concrete buildings give people a sense of solid, but also, the highlight of the building, in its plane, set up two different levels of restaurants. On the third floor of the French restaurant, Paul Bocuse, a three-star chef in Michelin Restaurant, is on the sign. Two sets of 6480 yen are quite good. While enjoying the fine works of art, enjoy the beauty of the gourmet meal. Fortunately!
The National New Museum of Tokyo is located at the former site of the Production Institute of Tokyo University. It is a museum in the port area of Tokyo, Japan. It opened on January 21, 2007 and is the fifth National Museum of Art in Japan since the National Museum of International Art (opened in 1977). The floor area of the National New Art Museum is the largest in Japan, about1.5 times the size of the second largest Daegu International Art Museum.
Access from the station is very good. The architecture is beautiful and you can enjoy cafes and restaurants.