This week · Wed 04 Nov 2026
Art Week Tokyo 2026: the wristband, the bus and five days of cheaper museum doors
Art Week Tokyo runs 4 to 8 November 2026 across 55 venues, and the galleries are free. The museums are where the free wristband earns its keep, but only at the ticket counter, on the day. How the week works, which discounts are worth having, and the late openings to plan around.
Tokyo's art world opens all its doors at once this week. Art Week Tokyo 2026 runs from Wednesday 4 to Sunday 8 November, linking 42 galleries and 13 museum and institutional shows across the city, 55 venues in all, with free shuttle buses running loops between them. The galleries cost nothing to walk into. The museums are where a small piece of paper comes in: a free wristband, picked up on the day, cuts the price of some of the season's biggest exhibitions, but only if you buy your ticket at the counter. The full listing is on our Art Week Tokyo event page. Here is how to work the week.
How the wristband works
The wristband is free. Collect one from the staff at any AWT Bus stop, or from the Art Week Tokyo information desk at a participating museum, and show it when you buy your ticket.
The rule that matters, and it is easy to get wrong: the reduced rate applies only to tickets bought at the museum ticket counter, on the day. Buy online in advance and the wristband does nothing for you. It also cannot be combined with other offers, and student or senior rates still need ID. So the week's rhythm is simple: ride the bus, collect the band, pay at the door.
The discounts worth having
The savings vary from a token ¥100 to a useful ¥300, and they stack across a day because one wristband works everywhere. The headline is the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi, where Mariko Mori: All That Shines drops from ¥2,800 (about US$18) to ¥2,500 (about US$16) on Wednesday to Friday, and from ¥3,000 (about US$19) to ¥2,700 (about US$17) at the weekend. At the Artizon Museum in Kyobashi, the wristband price for Jam Session, ¥1,200 against ¥1,500 at the counter, simply matches the advance online price, which tells you what the band is worth elsewhere. Adult counter prices, standard then wristband:
| Museum and show | Standard | With wristband |
|---|---|---|
| Artizon Museum: Jam Session | ¥1,500 | ¥1,200 |
| Mori Art Museum: Mariko Mori, All That Shines (Wed to Fri) | ¥2,800 | ¥2,500 |
| Mori Art Museum: Mariko Mori, All That Shines (Sat, Sun) | ¥3,000 | ¥2,700 |
| National Art Center, Tokyo: Shojo Manga Infinity | ¥2,200 | ¥2,100 |
| MOMAT: Takehisa Yumeji | ¥2,200 | ¥2,100 |
| MOMAT Collection | ¥500 | ¥400 |
| Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo: Tada Minami | ¥1,600 | ¥1,440 |
| Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo: Synchronic Constellation | ¥2,000 | ¥1,800 |
| MOT Collection | ¥500 | ¥450 |
| Marimekko: Art of Printmaking | ¥1,400 | ¥1,120 |
| Seeds and Roots | ¥1,800 | ¥1,600 |
| Tokyo Photographic Art Museum: Duet, Asian Contemporary | ¥900 | ¥720 |
| Tokyo Photographic Art Museum: Contemporary Japanese Photography vol. 23 | ¥700 | ¥560 |
| Nam June Paik retrospective | ¥1,500 | ¥1,200 |
One timing note: the National Art Center's Shojo Manga Infinity runs Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 November, so Wednesday is a gallery day in Roppongi, not a museum day.
The free way round
The cheapest version of this week is a good one. The AWT Bus loops are free and link the venue clusters, the 42 galleries charge nothing, and the ten AWT Focus spaces, each shaped by a curator, are gallery stops with a point of view rather than ticketed shows. The AWT Bar in Minami-Aoyama is the week's social base and the natural last stop of the day; drinks there are paid, the atmosphere is the point.
Late openings
On Friday 6 November several museums stay open until 8pm: the Artizon Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and MOMAT, with MOT and MOMAT repeating the late opening on Saturday 7. The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum in Ebisu runs late on Thursday 5 and Friday 6. A late opening plus the wristband is the week's best value combination: thinner evening crowds, and the counter price cut on top.
One day, done well
Take Friday. Start late morning with a cluster of free galleries, then ride the bus to the National Art Center for Shojo Manga Infinity while the day is still quiet. Cross the city in the afternoon to one of the Friday late openers, MOT in Kiyosumi is the strongest pick, with two special exhibitions and the collection all carrying wristband prices, and finish at the AWT Bar in Minami-Aoyama. Three districts, one big museum given the time it deserves, nothing booked online that did not need to be.
Practical notes
The Tokyo House Tour, running 5 to 7 November, is a separate paid programme and is booked on its own, not at museum counters. The free collector meet-ups and guided bus tours tied to the week need advance reservation, so check the official programme before the day rather than at the bus stop. If you are coming in from outside Tokyo, stay near a bus loop rather than near a single museum:
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The week ends on Sunday 8 November. Set a free Japan What's On alert from the event page and we will flag the rest of the autumn art season, including the next museum late openings, as dates land.
More reading on the articles page, or go straight to the events calendar.