Take advantage of Tokyo Museum Grutto Pass! Enjoy early summer as you explore museums in the Roppongi and Shinjuku areas (Part 1)

Event Reports

No.044

Entrance of Kikuchi Kanjitsu Memorial Tomo Museum

Tokyo Museum Grutto Pass 2024 is a valuable QR code ticket that includes admission tickets and discount coupons for 103 art museums and other facilities in the Tokyo area. It is priced at 2,500 yen and can be used once per facility for two months from the first day of use.

This time, we have selected three art museums near train stations from Roppongi to Shinjuku, perfect for the rainy season and easily visited in one day. We will introduce this cost-effective course, which allows you to experience innovative expressions in different genres, in two parts.

活用ガイド美術

2024.07.30

Tokyo Museum Grutto Pass 2024 is now available.

Grutto Pass is a QR code ticket that includes admission tickets and discount coupons for museums and other facilities. Participating facilities include art museums, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, and parks in various areas of Tokyo, as well as several in Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama. This year, Japan Olympic Museum and Mitaka City Yoshimura Akira Writing Room are participating for the first time, and Seikado Bunko Art Museum and SOMPO Museum of Art are rejoining, bringing the total number of participating facilities to a record 103.

While the Grutto Pass offers a variety of outing spots, people may be unsure how to visit the participating facilities spread over such a vast area centered around Tokyo. Ideally, it would be great to visit several facilities in succession as soon as you start using the pass. With a good selection, you can cover the cost of the pass with the admission fees in just one day.

To make the most of the Grutto Pass, it is recommended to check out participating facilities that are concentrated in certain areas or are easily accessible near stations. This time, we will introduce a course of three museums that can be visited within a day’s distance, all within walking distance from the station, and all of which can be entered with the Grutto Pass alone.

Get inspired by avant-garde ceramics at Kikuchi Kanjitsu Memorial Tomo Museum

The first place we visited is Kikuchi Kanjitsu Memorial Tomo Museum, where you can enjoy contemporary ceramics in an extraordinary space. The nearest station is Kamiyacho Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line, and it is also close to Roppongi-itchome Station on the Nanboku Line, Toranomon Hills Station on the Hibiya Line, and Toranomon Station on the Ginza Line.

Kikuchi Kanjitsu Memorial Tomo Museum was founded in 2003 based on the collection of Tomo Kikuchi, a collector and the museum’s founder, with the aim of introducing contemporary ceramic works. In addition to holding various exhibitions that showcase excellent sculptural works, the museum serves as a hub for contemporary crafts in general, not limited to ceramics.

Purchase the Grutto Pass Card at the 1st-floor reception desk and then present the QR code.

At the museum reception, you purchase the Grutto Pass Card, write your name on it on the spot, and have it date-stamped and the QR code scanned.
Until last year, the Grutto Pass was treated as a discount coupon at Tomo Museum, but it can be used as an admission ticket starting this year. I was able to enter the special exhibition, which costs 1,100 yen for adults, with just the Grutto Pass.

Early works by Sodeisha members featuring sunflowers and line dancers drawn on vessels as canvases.

The Sodeisha Group: An Era Born Out of Avant-garde Ceramics (Part I: April 20-June 23, 2024; Part II: July 5-September 1, 2024) is an exhibition that examines the activities of the avant-garde ceramic art group Sodeisha, which led the Japan’s ceramics world in the post-World War II period. Sodeisha was formed in 1948 by five artists: Kazuo Yagi, Tesuo Kanoh, Hikaru Yamada, Yoshisuke Matsui, and Osamu Suzuki. This exhibition focuses on the first 25 years of their 50-year activity, a period marked by significant avant-garde expression.
Their early works feature motifs and patterns reminiscent of Western art and abstract paintings, created using traditional shapes and techniques. At the same time, they produced pieces that pursued the intrigue of form, which later evolved into expressions known as “obuje-yaki” (kiln-fired object).

Some of the works on display are as tall as a person.

The museum reflects the aesthetic sensibility of its founder, Tomo, in every detail, making the facility itself resemble a piece of craftwork.
There are works by Toko Shinoda (1913-2021) and the exhibition room, located down a spiral staircase with curved handrails designed by glass artist Naoto Yokoyama (b. 1937), features lighting that illuminates only artworks.
This room was designed by Richard Molinaroli, an American designer and friend of Tomo. The S-shaped and stepped display stands, along with the use of thin fabrics, create a three-dimensional effect that effectively highlights the texture of the ceramics and the brilliance of the glazes.

Even in the current Sodeisha exhibition, I was able to immerse myself in the meticulously designed viewing space that Tomo was so passionate about, allowing me to engage deeply with the artworks.

Within walking distance, you can also find the Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo and the Okura Museum of Art, both of which I visited in 2022 with the Grutto Pass. You can enter both museums with the Grutto Pass 2024 at no extra cost.

In Part 2, I will move to Shinjuku Station and visit the Bunka Gakuen Costume Museum, where you can encounter fashion from around the world, and the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, which showcases a variety of expressive activities.

(Continue to Part2)

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

Grutto Pass 2024
The electronic ticket can be purchased with a personal computer or smartphone, while the physical Grutto Pass Card can be purchased at the sales counters of participating facilities. Combination tickets with various transportation tickets are also available.
For more details, please check the official website of Grutto Pass 2024.
Price: 2,500 yen (Adult rate only)
Availability: April 1 (Mon.), 2024 to January 31 (Fri.), 2025
Validity period: 2 months from the day on which you first use it. *It expires, however, final on March 31 (Mon.), 2025.
https://www.rekibun.or.jp/en/grutto/

Kikuchi Kanjitsu Memorial Tomo Museum
4-1-35, Toranomon Minato-ku, Tokyo
Open Hours: 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. (Last admission at 5:30 p.m.)
Closed: Mondays (Open on public holidays, closed on the following weekday), preparation period for exhibit changeover, year-end and New Year holidays.
https://www.musee-tomo.or.jp/en/information.html

Take advantage of Tokyo Museum Grutto Pass! Enjoy early summer as you explore museums in the Roppongi and Shinjuku areas (Part 2) ＞＞