Edo-Tokyo Museum 江戸東京博物館

Don't be fooled by the stark building—the immersive museum known as the Edo-Tokyo Museum is full of local color. Take a journey from Tokyo's origins to the present day with life-sized models, art and interactive zones.

You can get to the museum by train and a short walk.

Located right near Ryogoku Kokugikan , the massive building is hard to miss.

The museum is a three-minute walk from Ryogoku Station's west exit via the JR Sobu Line, and it is 1 minute walk from Ryogoku Station on the Oedo Line.

For centuries Tokyo has been the center of Japan's politics and economics. Even back when it was known as Edo, the city already had a million inhabitants, making it one of the world's biggest cities at the time. Instead of focusing on warlords and emperors, this immersive museum reveals the daily life of Edo (and later Tokyo) citizens.

There is plenty of information in English, and you can borrow multi-lingual audio guides offering detailed explanations. You can also reserve a spot on one of the tours, which are conducted in English, Chinese, Korean, French, German or Spanish. Reservations for foreign language tours must be made in advance.

In addition to a wealth of miniature scenes showing what Edo looked like, you can get a feeling of what life was like for Tokyoites by exploring life-size models of houses, shops and more. Stroll by a reconstruction of Nihonbashi Bridge, peek into the house of an Edo shopkeeper, or stop by the Museum Laboratory to experience what living in a 1950s home was like.

Architecture fans should visit the charming Edo Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum , which is located in Koganei.

Due to large-scale rennovations, the museum will be closed from April 1, 2022, to the end of 2025.