A Major New Tokyo Museum Opens: MoN Takanawa—The Museum of Narratives

About MoN Takanawa

Takanawa Gateway City is a ambitious new smart-city district developed by the railway company JR East on the former site of the Shinagawa rail yard. Stretching approximately 1.2 kilometers from north to south, it brings together offices, hotels, retail, and residential spaces in a single integrated development. MoN Takanawa serves as the cultural heart of this new district. Its name—built around the word "Narratives"—reflects the museum's ambition: to create stories that can be shared with the world.

The eye-catching spiral building was designed by the acclaimed architect Kengo Kuma, with an exterior that makes generous use of timber and is draped in greenery, blurring the boundary between indoors and out. Much of the plants consist of native Japanese species, giving visitors a sense of the changing seasons throughout the year.

Inside, the museum includes around 1,500 square meters of exhibition space, a theater fitted with full LED staging, and a traditional tatami room of approximately 100 mats—a versatile set of spaces capable of hosting everything from exhibitions and performances to hands-on experiences. Visitors can even relax on the roof with a hot foot bath, surrounded by plants, with a splendid view of the Tokyo skyline.

MoN Takanawa operates on a seasonal model, built twice a year around a new theme and developing cross-disciplinary programs in partnership with Japanese and international collaborators. The programs span traditional arts, contemporary art, technology, natural science, and entertainment. The institution’s broader mission is to connect cutting-edge innovation of AI, robotics, space exploration, and biotechnology with Japanese cultural forms including traditional performing arts, manga, anime, music, and food. It aims to create culture that will endure for the next hundred years.

Opening Season Theme: "Life as Culture"

The museum's inaugural season theme is Life as Culture Two flagship programs define the season.

Spiral Spiral: Evolving Human Narratives

Dates: Saturday, March 28–Wednesday, September 23 (public holiday)
Venue: Box1500

From the spiral arms of galaxies to Jomon-era pottery, conveyor-belt sushi, fingerprints, and the circular patterns of human thought, this exhibition brings together "spirals" from across history, cultures, and disciplines. Visitors are guided on an audio-guided journey through art, society, and traditional culture, encountering new ways of seeing the world. It's an intellectual entertainment experience built around the spiral as a universal form underlying human evolution.

MANGALOGUE: Phoenix (Hi no Tori)

Dates: Tuesday, April 22–Saturday, May 16 (multiple performances daily)
Venue: Box1000

Mangalogue is a new live performance that transforms manga—usually a solitary, private experience—into an event to be shared and felt together. The first installment draws on Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix: Future, a masterwork series first published in 1967-68 that grappled with AI, robotics, and cloning long before these became everyday concerns. Today it almost reads like a work of prophecy. More than fifty years after Tezuka first imagined this world, it comes to life in a state-of-the-art immersive performance featuring newly colored original artwork and a stellar cast.

DATA
Museum of Narratives Visitor Information
Address: 3-16-1 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Opening hours: 10:00–21:00 (hours vary by program and venue)
Closed: Second Tuesday of each month
Admission: Varies by exhibition and event
Access: Direct connection to Takanawa Gateway Station (JR East) — 6 minutes' walk from the North Gate; 3 minutes' walk from Sengakuji Station (Toei Asakusa Line, Exit A4)
Website: https://montakanawa.jp/en/