Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

Opened in 1926 and later rebuilt in a brick-clad modern form, this Ueno Park institution focuses on temporary exhibitions and public-participation art rather than a standing collection, offering galleries to art associations alongside major loan shows. Its architecture, by a leading modern Japanese designer, wraps stepped courtyards and reflecting features around light-filled halls. A large spherical sculpture at the entrance has become a landmark meeting point. It sits amid the park's cluster of national collections.