Art Week Tokyo
Tokyo’s citywide contemporary-art week maps galleries, museums and ten curator-led AWT FOCUS projects into five November days, with free buses holding the sprawl together from Friday.
2026 dates
- Venue
- Participating galleries, museums and AWT FOCUS spaces across Tokyo
- Where to plan around
- Roppongi, Tennoz, Ginza and other gallery neighbourhoods linked by AWT Bus routes
- Access
- Gallery participation and AWT FOCUS rooms are generally free. Museum exhibitions need tickets. Pick up a free Art Week Tokyo wristband at any AWT Bus stop or participating-museum desk; it is valid only the day you collect it and can unlock same-day counter discounts at listed museums (not online purchases). Free hop-on buses run every fifteen minutes from 10:00 to 18:00 on 6 to 8 November. Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 November are train and walking days. VIP programmes book through vip-artweektokyo.com. Confirm each venue’s hours before you leave the hotel.
- Official information
- Visit Art Week Tokyo ↗
The Banquet note
Art Week Tokyo launched in 2021 under Japan Contemporary Art Platform, co-founded by gallerist Atsuko Ninagawa of Take Ninagawa and collector Kazunari Shirai, in collaboration with Art Basel. The 2026 edition runs from 4 to 8 November across a record 55 venues: 32 galleries, 13 institutions and 10 AWT FOCUS spaces. FOCUS is the change to feel this year. Since 2023 it was one curated survey in one hall; now ten curators each take a different Tokyo room, a format developed with Vienna’s curated by. The spread is the point of the week, and also why a checklist fails. First-timers such as Shibunkaku in FOCUS and Pola Museum Annex only widen the map further.
The free AWT Buses run every fifteen minutes from 10:00 to 18:00 on 6 to 8 November only. Wednesday and Thursday are ordinary metro days, so keep those circuits short. Pick up a wristband at the first stop; it lasts that day, and some museum counters take it for a discount if you buy on site. Route C is the Ginza loop if you want Maison Hermès Le Forum and Shiseido Gallery without crossing town twice; Route D anchors Roppongi around Mori Art Museum. Art Collaboration Kyoto’s public days open at ICC Kyoto on 7 to 9 November. Decide early whether Kyoto is a same-week night or its own hotel booking. Trying both as one continuous itinerary is how Friday collapses.
Plan it well
Base in Roppongi, Ginza or Kyobashi. Do not expect the bus on Wednesday or Thursday. Use it Friday to Sunday. Sleep one night in Kyoto only if ACK is already locked on the same itinerary.