Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

Japan's first public art museum, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum opened in Ueno Park in 1926, funded by a donation from the Kyushu coal merchant Keitaro Sato. Its present building, designed by Kunio Maekawa and completed in 1975, sits low among the park's trees, with much of its space set below ground level behind walls of reddish-brown tile. Signs and locals often use its nickname, Tobikan.

Rather than building its visit around a permanent collection, the museum works mainly as an exhibition venue. Large special exhibitions, often drawing on major international loans, run alongside a steady calendar of shows by Japanese art societies and amateur groups, which fill its many galleries with painting, calligraphy, sculpture and craft.

With nearly 2.8 million visitors a year, it is one of Ueno's busiest cultural sites. It suits visitors who want to see what is on show rather than a fixed collection, and it pairs easily with the other museums in the park.