Yayoi Kusama Museum

Immerse yourself in beautiful contemporary art at Yayoi Kusama Museum, featuring rotating exhibits of Kusama’s work

Hidden away in Iidabashi, Tokyo, the Yayoi Kusama Museum celebrates the work of Yayoi Kusama, one of the most famous living contemporary artists in Japan. Here, you’ll find several floors of artwork and a small gift shop to bring home some of her art. This is actually one of many galleries and exhibits featuring her work, since she is pretty famous. It opened in 2017 and welcomes 200 visitors per day! Pretty crazy.

Who’s Yayoi Kusama?

Yayoi Kusama (born 1929) is an avant-garde artist, sculptor, and novelist from Matsumoto, Nagano. She’s known for her iconic polka-dot art, pumpkins, infinity mirrors, and more — it’s worth it to take a look yourself and see how you feel immersed in her art.

There’s a whole documentary about her, which covers her life and artwork. You can also check out her official site here.

What can you see at Yayoi Kusama Museum?

We got a good sampling of Yayoi Kusama’s works on the main exhibit floors. The second floor included some if her famous sculpture works, while the third floor was focused on paintings. These are rotating exhibits that change twice a year, so you can check what’s available now on the official website.

They didn’t allow photos on the main exhibit floors, but the last two floors were fair game. The fourth floor had a ladder with an infinity mirror.

When everyone around you is also looking in and trying to take photos, you get a cool effect with the mirror. It’s very trippy indeed.

And of course, on the fifth floor… you’d want to take photos with this. 

Yes, it’s Kusama’s iconic polka-dotted pumpkin! We found a reflective one sitting underneath a beautiful fall sky. 

This is the finale of the gallery, unless you went back to the first floor to check out all the merchandise. I ended up buying a scarf with her signature red polka dots that maybe I can frame somewhere in our office. 

How to get tickets to Yayoi Kusama Museum

We had to buy tickets in advance, and the entrance fee was 1,000 yen per adult (600 yen for kids 6-18, free for kids under 6). It’s reservation only, and you have to book a specific 90-minute time slot to enter. It makes sense since the place wasn’t huge and would have felt very cramped with more people. 

You should get there with enough time in advance. You’ll probably find some people lined up already, waiting for the next round to get in. It was pretty smooth from here on, so no need to stress too much about the line.

Get your tickets here.

A great spot for art lovers

If you’re a fan of art or design, this is a great place to immerse yourself in Kusama’s surreal works. It’s not a huge gallery, but I think as I went through the floors and learned of her story, I grew to really like her work. 

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