Japan Edo-Tokyo museum plaza panorama modern city cultural landmark

© fotoVyoager / Getty Images

Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architecture Museum

Tokyo

LoginSave

This fantastic yet overlooked museum is a preserve for historic buildings rescued from around Tokyo during the city's decades-long construction jag. Among them are an Edo-era farmhouse, a modernist villa and a whole strip of early-20th-century shops, all of which you can enter. The museum is inside Koganei-kōen (Tokyo's second-largest park) in Musashi-Koganei (four stops past Kichijōji on the JR Chūō line).

From the north exit of Musashi-Koganei Station, take a bus from stop 2 or 3 for Koganei-kōen Nishi-guchi, from where it's a five-minute walk to the museum through the park. There are more detailed directions on the website.

Transportation

  • train: JR Chūō line to Musashi-Koganei

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

    13.67 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

    3.45 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

    10.86 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

    14.79 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

    11.2 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

    19.23 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

    13.38 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

    15.93 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 Tokyo attractions

1. Reversible Destiny Lofts

2.74 MILES

Designed by husband and wife Arakawa Shūsaku (1936–2010) and Madeleine Gins (1941–2014) and completed in 2005, this housing complex certainly strikes…

2. Ghibli Museum

3.45 MILES

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

3. Inokashira Benzaiten

3.63 MILES

Benzaiten, one of Japan's eight lucky gods, is actually the octet's sole goddess; she's also the Japanese incarnation of the Hindi goddess Sarasvati and a…

4. Inokashira-kōen

3.78 MILES

One of Tokyo's best parks, Inokashira-kōen has a big pond in the middle flanked by woodsy strolling paths. A highlight is Inokashira Benzaiten, a shrine…

5. Harmonica-yokochō

3.78 MILES

This covered market, with low ceilings and lots of aka-chōchin (red lanterns), began as a black market in the post-war days. these days the tenants are…

6. Suginami Animation Museum

5.6 MILES

This small museum, designed mostly for kids (and rather dry considering its subject), covers the history of animation in Japan and its digital future…

7. Asagaya Pearl Centre

6.99 MILES

Asagaya's 1km-long shōtengai (market street) is one of Tokyo's longest and most iconic – a covered arcade with an arching roof and a poetic name (the…

8. Nakano Sun Mall

8.59 MILES

Nakano's vintage 1950s covered shopping arcade has a glass ceiling, which allows natural light to filter in; over 100 shops, ranging from family-run deli…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "japan/tokyo/attractions/edo-tokyo-open-air-architecture-museum/a/poi-sig/1501046/356817",
  "destination": "Tokyo",
  "continent": "Asia",
  "country": "Japan",
  "city": "Tokyo",
  "position": "superzone"
}