Museum of Kyoto

Introduction

The Museum of Kyoto opened in 1988 to mark twelve centuries since the founding of Heian-kyo, and consists of two buildings, one behind the other. Facing Sanjo-dori is the Annex, a red-brick hall with white bands completed in 1906 as the Bank of Japan's Kyoto branch, designed by Tatsuno Kingo with his pupil Nagano Uheiji and listed as a National Important Cultural Property in 1969. It keeps the old banking hall's height, wooden galleries, cast-iron railings and chandeliers, now serving as a gallery, cafe and shop, free to enter and open to photography. The seven-storey main building behind, new in 1988, holds the exhibitions: on the second and third floors the permanent 'History of Kyoto' uses hanging scrolls, old coins, large Heian jars and screen projections of picture scrolls to cover the city from Heian to Meiji and Taisho, with themed rotations; the third floor also has a 170-seat cinema showing classic films from the prefecture's collection, a nod to Kyoto's long career as the home of period dramas; the fourth floor hosts special exhibitions. The permanent display costs JPY 500, JPY 400 for university students, and is free for high school and under, while a special-show ticket includes it that day; photography is banned in the galleries. Open 10:00-19:30, closed Mondays and over New Year. It is three minutes along Sanjo-dori from Karasuma Oike, close to Nishiki Market, Teramachi-dori and the modern buildings around Nakagyo Post Office.

✨ Highlights

🛈 Practical Info