Sumida Hokusai Museum designed by Sejima Kazuyo, Asakusa & Sumida River.

©Rebecca Milner/Lonely Planet

Sumida Hokusai Museum

Asakusa & Sumida River

LoginSave

The woodblock artist Hokusai Katsushika (1760–1849) was born and died close to the location of this museum, which opened in 2016 in a striking aluminium-clad building designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Sejima Kazuyo. The small permanent exhibition gives an overview of his life and work, mostly through replicas.

Special exhibitions (admission ¥600 to ¥1200) show the real deal, and can include some of his more famous works, such as those from his series, Thirty-six Views of Mt Fuji, as well as works by other artists.

Transportation

  • subway: Oedo line to Ryōgoku, exit A4

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Tokyo Imperial Palace, tokyo, japan 138905807 ancient, architecture, asia, asian, attraction, bridge, building, castle, city, edo, emperor, fort, fortress, historic, historical, history, imperial, japan, japanese, king, landmark, moat, monarchy, nijubashi, old, oriental, otemachi, palace, royal, royalty, stone, tokyo, tower, travel, urban, wall

    Imperial Palace

    2.83 MILES

    The Imperial Palace occupies the site of the original Edo-jō, the Tokugawa shogunate's castle. In its heyday this was the largest fortress in the world,…

  • April 29, 2018: The Robot statue in an open garden space at the Ghibli museum.

    Ghibli Museum

    12.94 MILES

    This museum is the heart of the Studio Ghibli world, a beloved (even 'adored') film studio responsible for classic, critically-acclaimed animated titles…

  • Shinjuku, Tokyo, Kanto region, Japan. Tiny alleys crowded with night bars and clubs at Golden Gai district.

    Golden Gai

    5.38 MILES

    Golden Gai – a Shinjuku institution for over half a century – is a collection of tiny bars, often literally no bigger than a closet and seating maybe a…

  • Tokyo, Ueno, Taito-ku: Tokyo National Museum, Honkan

    Tokyo National Museum

    2.06 MILES

    If you visit only one museum in Tokyo, make it the Tokyo National Museum. Here you'll find the world's largest collection of Japanese art, including…

  • Tokyo, Japan view of Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest crosswalks in the world. aerial, architecture, asia, asian, billboards, buildings, business, city, cityscape, commercial, cross, crosswalk, crowd, district, downtown, dusk, evening, famous, futuristic, japan, japanese, landmark, lights, location, metropolis, metropolitan, modern, morning, night, office, pedestrian, people, place, plaza, road, scene, scenery, scenic, shibuya, shopping, signs, skyline, skyscrapers, square, street, tokyo, twilight, urban, view, walk

    Shibuya Crossing

    6.17 MILES

    Rumoured to be the busiest intersection in the world (and definitely in Japan), Shibuya Crossing is like a giant beating heart, sending people in all…

  • Tokyo, Japan - May 6, 2017: Cup noodles Museum Front display in Yokohama.; Shutterstock ID 652705672; Your name (First / Last): Laura Crawford; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: BiA: Takayama, south of Tokyo POI images for online

    Cup Noodles Museum

    18.93 MILES

    This impressively slick attraction is dedicated to, you guessed it, cup noodles. But in reality, its focus is more broad, with numerous exhibitions…

  • teamLab Borderless

    teamLab Borderless

    4.05 MILES

    Digital-art collective teamLab has created 60 artworks for this museum, open in 2018, that tests the border between art and the viewer: many are…

  • Exterior of the Sensouji Temple. 1075025648 architecture, asakusa, asia, background, blue, buddhism, buddhist, building, capital, city, copy, cultural, day, destination, famous, god, japan, japanese, landmark, landscape, morning, old, people, pray, red, religion, senso-ji, sensoji, sensouji, shinto, shrine, sky, space, temple, tokyo, tourism, tourists, travel, worship

    Sensō-ji

    1.3 MILES

    Tokyo’s most visited temple enshrines a golden image of Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy), which, according to legend, was miraculously pulled out of…

View more attractions

Nearby Asakusa & Sumida River attractions

1. Edo-Tokyo Museum

0.25 MILES

Tokyo's history museum documents the city's transformation from tidal flatlands to feudal capital to modern metropolis via detailed scale re-creations of…

2. Sumo Museum

0.38 MILES

On the ground floor of Ryōgoku Kokugikan stadium, this small museum displays pictures of all the past yokozuna (top-ranking sumo wrestlers), or, for those…

3. Kyū-Yasuda-teien

0.41 MILES

This late-17th-century stroll garden offers beautiful views across its central tidal pond and is well worth a visit if you're in the area. It used to take…

4. Japanese Sword Museum

0.43 MILES

For visitors with a keen interest in Japanese sword-making – an art that continues to this day – this museum, which relocated to a new building in 2018,…

5. Asahi Super Dry Hall

0.93 MILES

This jet-black, inverted obelisk, part of Asahi Beer's headquarters, was designed by Philippe Starck and completed in 1989; atop it sits a 'golden flame'…

6. Azuma-bashi

0.96 MILES

Originally built in 1774, this bridge was once the point of departure for boat trips to the Yoshiwara pleasure district, north of Asakusa.

7. Kaminari-mon

1.05 MILES

The Sensō-ji temple precinct begins at this majestic gate, from which hangs an enormous chōchin (lantern); look under this to see a beautiful carved…

8. Fukagawa Edo Museum

1.06 MILES

During the Edo period (1603–1868), Fukagawa was a typical working-class neighbourhood, with narrow alleys and tenement homes. You can get an idea of what…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "japan/tokyo/asakusa-and-around/attractions/sumida-hokusai-museum/a/poi-sig/1550972/1323663",
  "destination": "Asakusa-&-Sumida-River",
  "continent": "Asia",
  "country": "Japan",
  "city": "Tokyo",
  "neighborhood": "Asakusa-&-Sumida-River",
  "position": "superzone"
}