6 of the 100 most visited museums in the world are in Tokyo

Tokyo is one of the world’s leading art hubs, a city that offers almost endless diversity. great exhibition, free gallery and public art. Given this level of richness, choosing the best museums in the capital is sky treeTherefore, settle on the most popular name.

It helps us to be crowned champions of the people. art newspaper‘s Annual survey of museum visitor numbers around the world. The 2025 edition of this prestigious study, released on March 31, 2026, lists the 100 most visited museums in the world, including six in Tokyo and one in Yokohama.

To no one’s surprise, the most popular art museum in Tokyo in 2025 will be Tokyo National MuseumRanked 23rd in the world with 2,576,118 visitors, an increase of 6 percent from 2024. The country’s oldest and largest museum, specializing in Japanese art and antiquities from prehistoric times to the present day, is a must-visit for visitors to Tokyo and a gift to us locals.

However, if the National Museum is to maintain its number one spot, it cannot rest on its laurels. team lab planetsIt ranks 24th on the global list and is already threatening to overtake Ueno’s oldies. The Toyosu Digital Art Archive welcomed 2,516,719 visitors in 2025, and the museum unveiled 20 new works. Among the standout works is Catching Collecting Extinct Forest, a dazzling rainbow-colored world roamed by animals from the distant past. The museum is also home to a Kyoto-based Bib Gourmand ramen shop.

The next Tokyo-based institutions that ranked in the top 100 are: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (No. 41). Visitor numbers in 2025 were 1,715,830, down 14% from 2024, but the museum celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and is packed with notable exhibits, so we should expect even more visitors in 2026. Some of the exhibits you can look forward to at TMAM in the coming months include: “Andrew Wyeth: Boundary or Window?” and “Focus on Edo: Japanese Treasures in the British Museum”.

Just behind the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, ranked 42nd in the world, team lab borderless Azabudai Hills had 1,691,075 visitors in its first year of operation. The other two Tokyo museums in the top 100 are: National Museum of Western Art (No. 43, 1,648,112 visitors – 21% increase from 2024, especially thanks to the success of the two Monet exhibitions) The National Art Center, Tokyo (No. 59, 1,322,716 visitors).

Going south, Yokohama Museum of Art It cracked the top 100 at No. 96, with 815,931 visits from its grand opening in February to 2025.

Elsewhere, the Louvre once again dominated the competition to claim the title of the world’s most visited museum. Somewhat unbelievably, in 2025, 9,046,000 people checked out this Parisian icon. This figure is two million people further north than its closest competitor, the Vatican Museums (6,933,822 people). The National Museum of Korea in Seoul took third place with 6,507,483 visitors, marking a significant 72% increase from 2024 and reflecting the world’s voracious demand for all things Korean.

See below for a complete list of the world’s 100 most visited museums in 2025. art newspaper‘s website (You may need to register your email address to read the article.)

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