Fill The Soul with Art A Cultural Night at The Museum

Having been the center of politics and culture in Japan for close to a millennium, Kyoto is a city of the arts with a valuable and extensive cultural legacy that includes Buddhist statues, folding screens, paintings, sculptures and more. The modern city continues to produce a significant number of artists and play host to all manner of art events. The stage for these events is the city’s museums.
Kyoto has four main museums of art and history, collectively known as Kyoto Museums Four. They’re open after 5 pm, and some are also open after 7 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. A quiet, cultural stroll around a museum is a soothing way to spending the evening after a day sightseeing among the crowds.
Opened in 1933, the main building of the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art is the oldest surviving public art museum in Japan. The museum is a longtime favorite of the people of Kyoto and has played a significant part in art flourishing in the city. On March 21st 2020, the Museum reopens after three years closed for large-scale renovations. With funding from one of Kyoto’s leading global businesses, KYOCERA Corporation, the museum begins a new phase in its history under a new name—Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art.
The updated complex preserves the magnificent original brick building, fusing it with a modern façade dubbed the “Glass Ribbon”. This new feature will be lit up at night in seasonal colors, so in spring you might see pink during cherry blossom season or green representing fresh foliage that sprouts at this time of year. The sloped plaza in front of the building is designed to be a place for people to gather, relax, and enjoy events. And with a café and museum shop just inside the entrance, the museum is more open and modern than ever before.

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto officially became so in 1967 after initially being founded in 1963 as The Annex Museum of The Modern Art in Tokyo. In addition to housing and exhibiting many of the modern artworks of Kyoto, the Museum has an extensive collection of paintings, prints and photographic works, as well as ceramics, textiles and other craft products. The building was designed by architect Fumihiko Maki, recipient of the Pritzker Prize in 1993.
An audio guide app, Catalog Pocket, is available to guide you through the works in the Collection Gallery. Download the app and select National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto Collection Gallery from the home screen. The app is available in English, Korean and Chinese languages.

Address
A ten-minute walk from Higashiyama station on the Kyoto City Subway Tōzai line
Open
Friday and Saturday 9:30 am – 8 pm /
Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday 9:30 am – 5 pm
Closed
Monday (or the following day if it is a national holiday)
Website
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto

Founded in 1897, Kyoto National Museum houses an extensive collection of Cultural Properties with relevance to Kyoto, and conducts research, education and outreach activities relating to Cultural Properties. The Museum has a particularly impressive collection of National Treasures including folding screens, paintings and scrolls. The beautiful brick structures of the Main Gate and former Main Exhibition Hall (currently closed) are preserved in their original form and are themselves designated as an Important Cultural Property.
Audio guides are available for rental at the first floor Entrance Hall of the Heisei Chishinkan Wing.
For thematic exhibitions:
Rental fee: 550 yen (tax included) per device　Listening time: Approx. 30 mins
Languages available: Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean
Audio guide rental available: 9:30 am – 4:30 pm (9:30 am – 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday)
For special exhibitions:
Varies depending on the exhibition. Check the relevant special exhibition page on the museum website for details.

Address
A seven-minute walk from Shichijō station on the Keihan Main line
Open
Friday and Saturday 9:30 am – 8 pm
(until 5 pm on March 6th, 7th, 13th, and 14th),
Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday 9:30 am – 5 pm
Closed
Monday (or the following day if it is a national holiday)
Website
Kyoto National Museum

The Museum of Kyoto is a comprehensive cultural facility that presents an easy-to-understand overview of Kyoto’s history and culture. In addition to a variety of special exhibitions, the museum holds general exhibitions of masterpieces related to Kyoto along with occasional events. A film theater on the third floor screens classic films from a collection owned by Kyoto Prefecture.
Also of interest are the museum’s Annex (the former Kyoto branch of the Bank of Japan), which is an example of early Western-style architecture designated as an Important Cultural Property, and the Rōji Tempo street that recreates a traditional Kyoto street lined with machiya townhouses.
For overseas visitors, the museum offers foreign language audio guides and a volunteer guide service for the general exhibition (Kyoto history zone). Audio guides are available for a charge and can be used in English, Chinese or Korean. Volunteer guide services are available in English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and French. zqzzcontact the museum in advance for languages other than English.

Address
A three-minute walk from Karasuma Oike station on the Kyoto City Subway
Open
Permanent exhibition: 10 am – 7:30 pm,
Thematic exhibition: 10 am – 6 pm, Annex hall: 10 am – 7:30 pm
Closed
Monday
Website
The Museum of Kyoto