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Available as QR code tickets since April 2022!

Take advantage of the electronic version of Tokyo Museum Grutto Pass!

Event Reports

No.039

The Tokyo Museums Grutto Pass 2022 is an admission and discount ticket that can be used at 101 museums and other facilities in the Tokyo area. We are sure that many of you will use it as a tool to enjoy art at reasonable prices.

Electronic tickets that can be purchased online and Grutto Pass Card, which is available at participating facilities’ sales counters, were launched in fiscal 2022, which marked the 20th anniversary of sales. With the QR code, the pass is much easier and more convenient to use.

The price is 2,500 yen. The ticket can be used once for a designated exhibition at each facility for a period of two months from the date of first use. We used this electronic ticket to experience a one-day good deal tour course that includes participating museums newly added in 2022.


More and more museums are offering to purchase time- and date-specific tickets online. The Tokyo Museum Grutto Pass 2022, which has marked its 20th anniversary, has launched an electronic ticket version in fiscal 2022 that can be purchased via smartphones.

We wanted to enjoy the unique collections of each museum, so we decided to tour the recently reopened Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo, the nearby Okura Museum of Art, and Kumagai Morikazu Museum of Art, which was newly participated in fiscal 2022, by using the Grutto Pass.

Easy purchase from your smartphone

Purchase screen of the Grutto Pass on a smartphone (the above and hereinafter captures show the Japanese version)

The electronic ticket version can be purchased from a personal computer or smartphone. So, access the Grutto Pass website (https://www.rekibun.or.jp/en/grutto/) and select “Buy an e-ticket.” To purchase the e-ticket, you must register as a member on the “Webket” ticket sales site. (The Webket page is available only in the Japanese language.) You can purchase the Grutto Pass regardless of time or location.

List of participating facilities and area map

The website lists 101 facilities in seven areas and allows visitors to check whether the users can use their Grutto Pass as an admission or discount ticket to their facilities of interest. The area map also shows the location of facilities with icons for five different genres, such as art museums, general museums, and zoos, and provides the distance between facilities and the route from the nearest station.

Enjoy the Sumitomo Collection at the Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo

Entrance of the Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo

Our first stop was the Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo, which reopened after renovation in March 2022. It is a three-minute walk from Roppongi-itchome subway station. The museum opened in 2002 on the site of the former Azabu villa of the Sumitomo family in a corner of Izumi Garden, a redevelopment district lined with office buildings and high-rise residences.

Read the QR code with the dedicated terminal

Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo allows admission to exhibitions with a Grutto Pass only, although it costs 1,000 yen for adults and 1,200 yen for special exhibitions.
At the museum’s reception desk, I quickly displayed the QR code of the electronic ticket version of the Grutto Pass that I had purchased on my smartphone and had it scanned with the facility’s dedicated terminal for admission.

The Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum houses a collection of approximately 3,500 items (including two national treasures, 19 important cultural properties, and 60 important art objects) of bronze ware, Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, and modern paintings, collected mainly by the 15th head of the Sumitomo family, Sumitomo Kichizaemon Tomoito (pseudonym: Shunsui), in a museum in Kyoto and another in Tokyo.
On the day I visited the museum, Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo Reopening Commemorative Exhibition I: Nihonga of the Three Capitals—Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo (March 19 – May 8, 2022) was being held.

The reopening commemorative exhibition (March 19 - October 23, 2022) was held over three phases, offering a wide variety of nihonga and modern Western-style paintings and antiques (Chinese bronzes) from the Sumitomo Collection.

The exhibition consisted of works by painters who were active in the three cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo from the Sumitomo family’s collection of Japanese-style paintings. The works revealed the differences in local color among the three cities: Osaka, where individual activities were prominent; Kyoto, where sketching was emphasized; and Tokyo, where tradition and innovation confronted each other.

The renovated exhibition rooms are decorated in chic colors, creating a space where visitors can carefully appreciate the artworks. In the newly constructed fourth exhibition room, a timeline of the museum’s history was presented in a space reminiscent of a mansion, with white wallpaper and blue carpeting.

Take a break with a cup of hot coffee while admiring the lush greenery

After viewing the exhibition, I had coffee at HARIO CAFE, which is adjacent to the museum, while enjoying the view of the promenade of Izumi Garden. At this café, I received a 10% discount by showing the admission history to the exhibition on my smartphone.

Immerse yourself in the beauty of Japan and other parts of Asia at the Okura Museum of Art

Okura Museum of Art

After taking a break at the café, it’s off to the next museum. This Roppongi neighborhood is home to many art museums and gallery facilities. My next destination, the Okura Museum of Art, is a four-minute walk from the Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo.
Designed by Chuta Ito, one of Japan’s leading architects of the modern era, the classical Chinese-style building was completed in 1927 and is designated as a registered tangible cultural property of Japan.
Here, too, I was able to enter the exhibition by simply displaying the QR code on the Grutto Pass. Without the pass, admission would have been 1,000 yen per adult.

The exhibition, “Hitono sugata, hitono omoi—shuzohin ni miru hitobito no monogatari” (image of people, thoughts of people: stories of people in the museum collection) (April 5 - May 29, 2022), featured paintings reflecting people’s activities at court, annual events, livelihoods, and recreation, as well as waka poems that convey their thoughts to the next generation. The Important Cultural Property Kamo Horse Racing and Uji Tea Picking, by Kusumi Morikage, vividly depicts people passing by on the street and spectators watching a horse race.

Front view of the exhibition room on the first floor

The Okura Museum of Art was the first private art museum in Japan managed by an incorporated foundation established by businessman Kihachiro Okura in 1917. Concerned about the loss of valuable Japanese art works to foreign countries after the Meiji Restoration, he set out to collect and protect them and opened the museum to make these cultural assets widely available to the public. The museum currently houses approximately 2,500 works of art (three National Treasures, 13 Important Cultural Properties, and 44 Important Art Objects), mainly from Japan and other parts of Asia.
In the exhibition rooms on the first and second floors, themed exhibitions and special exhibitions are held from an extensive collection of Japanese and other Asian classical works collected mainly by Kihachiro and modern Japanese paintings collected by his eldest son, Kishichiro.

In the lobby on the basement floor, visitors can view works by contemporary artists and Buddhist sculptures, as well as a video documenting the museum's renovation from 2014-2019. (Video is subject to change depending on the exhibition.)

Within walking distance of the two museums, I visited this time, Okura Museum of Art and Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo, there is also Musée Tomo, a facility participating in the Grutto Pass, making it possible to make plans to visit all three museums during the exhibition periods.

Loving the little lives at the Kumagai Moikazu Museum of Art

The Kumagai Morikazu Museum of Art, Toshima-ku, Tokyo. The mural of ants serves as a landmark for the museum.

From the Okura Museum of Art, I walked for about 10 minutes to Tameike-sanno subway station and then took the subway to Sengawa station.
The third museum I visited was the Kumagai Morikazu Museum of Art in Toshima-ku, which became a participating facility of the Grutto Pass in 2022.
Morikazu Kumagai (1880-1977) was an oil painter active from the Meiji to Showa eras, who painted familiar animals and plants with clear lines and colors. The museum was opened as a private museum by his second daughter, Kaya Kumagai, a painter, on the site of his former residence where he spent the last 45 years of his life. The museum has been managed by the Toshima-ku government since 2007.

The first floor is built with a gentle slope.

A special exhibition, “The 37th Anniversary of the Kumagai Morikazu Museum of Art” (April 12-July 3, 2022) was 700 yen for adults, but the admission was covered by the Grutto Pass.

This special exhibition is held every year around May 28, the anniversary of the museum’s opening. The exhibition attracts many fans during this time of the year, as many of the oil paintings are on display, including those from the collection of the Kumagai Morikazu Tsukechi Memorial of Art in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture, Morikazu’s hometown. The block-like walls lined with works depicting small creatures and plants seemed to relive Morikazu’s keen eyes as he gazed out over his garden.

Usually, the first and second floors are permanent exhibition rooms. The third floor is a gallery where special exhibitions and solo shows by contemporary artists are held. When I visited, Morikazu’s favorite painting materials and other items were displayed in the gallery on the third floor. The life of Morikazu was also introduced in photographs on the staircase wall.

Enjoy a tour of museums at a good price

On My Page, you can also check usage history and expiration dates.

The three museums I visited this time are facilities that can be entered only with the Grutto Pass. The total admission fee was 2,700 yen, and I was able to get my money’s worth in one day! Since everything from purchase to use and management can be completed with a single smartphone, it can be used on the go whenever I like.

In addition to art galleries and museums, participating facilities of the Grutto Pass include zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, and gardens. You can make plans based on a variety of themes, such as, “Feel the seasons through paintings and gardens,” or, “Visit museums along the rail line.”
By using the Grutto Pass, you can enjoy art at a reasonable price over a two-month period. So, why not tour museums with the Grutto Pass?

Japanese original text: Yasuna Asano
Photo: Shu Nakagawa
Translation: Kae Shigeno

Grutto Pass Card

Grutto Pass 2022
Grutto Pass 2022 is no longer available. The 2024 edition is currently on sale. For details, please visit the Grutto Pass’s official website.
The electronic ticket can be purchased with a personal computer or smartphone. The physical Grutto Pass Card can be purchased at the sales counters of participating facilities. Combination tickets with various transportation tickets are also available.

Price (2024 edition): 2,500 yen (Adult rate only)
Availability (2024 edition): April 1 (Mon.), 2024-January 31 (Fri.), 2025
Valid period (2024 edition): 2 months from the date on which you first use it. *It expires, however, on March 31 (Mon.), 2025.
https://www.rekibun.or.jp/en/grutto/

Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo
1-5-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Open Hours: 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. (Last admission at 5:30 p.m.) Open until 7:00 p.m. on Fridays.
Closed: Mondays (Open on public holidays, closed on the following weekday), preparation periods for new exhibitions, year-end and New Year holidays.
https://sen-oku.or.jp/tokyo/en/

Okura Museum of Art
2-10-3 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Open Hours: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (Last admission at 4:30)
Closed: Mondays (Open on public holidays, closed on the following weekday, preparation period for new exhibitions, year-end and New Year holidays.
https://www.shukokan.org/language/

(Toshima-ku,Tokyo) Kumagai Morikazu Museum of Art
2-27-6 Chihaya, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Open Hours: 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (Last admission at 5:00 p.m.)
Closed: Mondays, preparation period for new exhibitions, year-end and New Year holidays.
http://kumagai-morikazu.jp