Visiting Tokyo’s National Museum

For a few years now I have wanted to visit Japan, so when the border reopened, I bought a ticket to Tokyo and started doing some research. It seems that in Japan planning ahead is not just a good idea, but sometimes necessary.

After several hours in the air, I landed in Narita, and after a couple of hours trying to get through border control, I was finally in Japan. After getting some help I bought my train ticket and made my way to Akihabara, where I was planning to stay for my time in Tokyo. By the time I got to the hostel I was hungry and tired, so after some dinner and a shower I headed straight to bed.

My first destination was the Tokyo National Museum. In order to get there I had to cross Ueno Park, which I planned to visit at a later point. Around the park there are several museums, and a zoo, which could be worth exploring, but I had one museum in mind. Using the maps around the park (and my smartphone), I managed to get to the National Museum without too much difficulty.

After buying a ticket and being informed I need to wear a mask indoors, I was free to explore the area. I headed into the main building following a few other people, not really sure what I was going to find inside.

There were plenty of rooms to go through, which showed many different displays, ranging from tools to armors and weapons. All the displays had an English translation as well, which was very welcome and provided a great deal of context and information, although at least some of it seemed to have been translated by Google rather than an actual translator.

It took me over an hour to get through the main building, and I’m not completely sure that I saw all of it, but after a quick rest, I left the building and walked over to the garden, which had a few old teahouses in it. The garden itself was nice, although I wasn’t too impressed by it. The teahouses on the other end, I found more interesting to look at, although it was mostly just looking from the outside. Next to each teahouse there was a description of its history, but unfortunately it was very difficult to read, so I didn’t really bother myself with it.

There was another building in the area, for more of the general history of Japan from the prehistoric era to more modern times, and the influence of other cultures from Asia, such as India, China, and Korea. At that point I started to feel a bit bored, and so I left the building, and a few moments later, the museum grounds.

I originally planned to keep exploring more of Tokyo, but I was feeling tired, so I decided to go back to the room, get some rest, and do some more exploring on another day.