Ueno Park hosts a large number of extremely important exhibition-spaces, of varying types. We will visit five: The National Museum of Western Art (1959) designed by Le Corbusier; The Metropolitan Festival Hall (1961) and The Metropolitan Art Museum (1975), both designed by Kunio Mayekawa; The National Library of Children’s Literature (2002) designed by Tadao Ando; and The Gallery of Horyuji Treasures at Tokyo National Museum (1999) designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, where the tour will conclude. Visitors may then choose to make a self-guided tour of the other buildings of the National Museum, including the ‘Toyokan’ (1968) designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi – the father of Yoshio Taniguchi; and the ‘Honkan’ (1938) designed by Jin Watanabe which houses a staggering collection of Japanese artworks, from 10000 BC to the late 19th century.

The guided tour mainly addresses the architecture of the five museums, and discusses the ideas that the designers were considering when they made the designs.

The National Museum of Western Art (1959) designed by Le Corbusier

The Gallery of Horyuji Treasures at Tokyo National Museum (1999) designed by Yoshio Taniguchi