Tokyo Bunka Kaikan

Ueno & Yanesen

LoginSave

The Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Ballet both make regular appearances at this Ueno-kōen landmark, designed by Maekawa Kunio, an apprentice of Le Corbusier. Prices vary wildly; look out for morning classical-music performances that cost just ¥550 to ¥1100. Purchase tickets online or at the box office. The auditorium has cloud-shaped acoustic panels that sound as gorgeous as they look.

Tokyo Bunka Kaikan is the main venue for Tokyo Haru-sai, a classical-music festival that takes place every spring.

There's also a music library (open 1-8pm Tue-Sat, to 5pm Sun, closed irregularly) where it's free to listen to vinyl (mainly classical but also Japanese and various other ethnic and folk music) on old turntables.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Tokyo, Ueno, Taito-ku: Tokyo National Museum, Honkan

    Tokyo National Museum

    0.32 MILES

    If you visit only one museum in Tokyo, make it the Tokyo National Museum. Here you'll find the world's largest collection of Japanese art, including…

  • April 29, 2018: The Robot statue in an open garden space at the Ghibli museum.

    Ghibli Museum

    11.59 MILES

    This museum is the heart of the Studio Ghibli world, a beloved (even 'adored') film studio responsible for classic, critically-acclaimed animated titles…

  • Shinjuku, Tokyo, Kanto region, Japan. Tiny alleys crowded with night bars and clubs at Golden Gai district.

    Golden Gai

    4.2 MILES

    Golden Gai – a Shinjuku institution for over half a century – is a collection of tiny bars, often literally no bigger than a closet and seating maybe a…

  • Tokyo, Japan view of Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest crosswalks in the world. aerial, architecture, asia, asian, billboards, buildings, business, city, cityscape, commercial, cross, crosswalk, crowd, district, downtown, dusk, evening, famous, futuristic, japan, japanese, landmark, lights, location, metropolis, metropolitan, modern, morning, night, office, pedestrian, people, place, plaza, road, scene, scenery, scenic, shibuya, shopping, signs, skyline, skyscrapers, square, street, tokyo, twilight, urban, view, walk

    Shibuya Crossing

    5.66 MILES

    Rumoured to be the busiest intersection in the world (and definitely in Japan), Shibuya Crossing is like a giant beating heart, sending people in all…

  • Tokyo, Japan - May 6, 2017: Cup noodles Museum Front display in Yokohama.; Shutterstock ID 652705672; Your name (First / Last): Laura Crawford; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: BiA: Takayama, south of Tokyo POI images for online

    Cup Noodles Museum

    19.43 MILES

    This impressively slick attraction is dedicated to, you guessed it, cup noodles. But in reality, its focus is more broad, with numerous exhibitions…

  • teamLab Borderless

    teamLab Borderless

    4.07 MILES

    Digital-art collective teamLab has created 60 artworks for this museum, open in 2018, that tests the border between art and the viewer: many are…

  • Tokyo Imperial Palace, tokyo, japan 138905807 ancient, architecture, asia, asian, attraction, bridge, building, castle, city, edo, emperor, fort, fortress, historic, historical, history, imperial, japan, japanese, king, landmark, moat, monarchy, nijubashi, old, oriental, otemachi, palace, royal, royalty, stone, tokyo, tower, travel, urban, wall

    Imperial Palace

    2.51 MILES

    The Imperial Palace occupies the site of the original Edo-jō, the Tokugawa shogunate's castle. In its heyday this was the largest fortress in the world,…

  • Exterior of the Sensouji Temple. 1075025648 architecture, asakusa, asia, background, blue, buddhism, buddhist, building, capital, city, copy, cultural, day, destination, famous, god, japan, japanese, landmark, landscape, morning, old, people, pray, red, religion, senso-ji, sensoji, sensouji, shinto, shrine, sky, space, temple, tokyo, tourism, tourists, travel, worship

    Sensō-ji

    1.2 MILES

    Tokyo’s most visited temple enshrines a golden image of Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy), which, according to legend, was miraculously pulled out of…

View more attractions

Nearby Ueno & Yanesen attractions

1. National Museum of Western Art

0.1 MILES

The permanent collection here runs from medieval Madonna-and-child images to 20th-century abstract expressionism, but is strongest in French impressionism…

2. Ueno-kōen

0.14 MILES

Best known for its profusion of cherry trees that burst into blossom in spring (making this one of Tokyo's top hanami – blossom-viewing – spots),…

3. Kiyōmizu Kannon-dō

0.14 MILES

Kiyōmizu Kannon-dō is one of Tokyo's oldest structures: established in 1631 and in its present position since 1694, it has survived every disaster that…

4. National Museum of Nature & Science

0.16 MILES

The Japan Gallery here showcases the rich and varied wildlife of the Japanese archipelago, from the bears of Hokkaidō to the giant beetles of Okinawa…

5. Gojōten-jinja

0.18 MILES

This Inari shrine inside Ueno-kōen is most noteworthy for its photogenic succession of torii gates, which form a vermilion tunnel. This feature is typical…

6. Saigō Takamori Statue

0.18 MILES

Near the southern entrance to Ueno-kōen is this unconventional statue of a samurai walking his dog. Saigō Takamori started out supporting the Meiji…

7. Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art

0.25 MILES

This museum hosts blockbuster shows with art on loan from local and international museums (such as New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art); you could be…

8. Tōyōkan

0.26 MILES

Part of the Tokyo National Museum, the three-storey Gallery of Asian Art focuses on pieces from across the region, including delicate Chinese ceramics and…