Originally Posted by
anubisgrau
I don't mean only historical but predominantly modern, like Ramen Museum in Yokohama, Tokyo Disney World, Odaiba Science and Technology Museum, Kyoto Manga Museum, Nagoya Rail Museum or similar.
Pls share you experience on fascinating museums and public centres in Japan that are not to be missed.
You didn't mention where you'll be staying - and for how long.
I second/third the Edo Tokyo museum. It's worth crossing town for a visit IMO - and I recommend a visit time of at least 2 hours or so. It has self-guided headset tours in various languages (free IIRC) - which help one to understand a lot of the exhibits.
I also second the Bridgestone Museum - but I don't think it's worth a trip across town (it was only a short walk from our hotel/Tokyo Station).
I like science/technology museums and enjoyed the one in Odaiba. OTOH - IIRC - a lot of the exhibits only had signs/explanations in Japanese. On the third hand - we were accompanied by an English speaking friend who both reads and speaks Japanese fluently (because he's Japanese
). And he explained things to us that we otherwise might not have understood.
One place no one has mentioned is the Yasukuni Shrine. I thought/think it's a must see because it's so controversial. My husband and I enjoyed our visit there and found it very thought-provoking. Note that our fathers fought in WWII - and our grandfathers fought in WWI. Although Japan's history goes back many many more centuries - the WWII and WWI exhibits were the ones we were most interested in. Both of these exhibits had extensive signs/explanations in English. Robyn