Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka

The Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, often shortened to NAKKA, opened on 2 February 2022 and is one of the newest major art museums in Japan. It stands on Nakanoshima, the river island in the north of central Osaka, where it is reached by crossing the Tosabori River from the Yodoyabashi side.

The museum's own collection runs to more than 6,000 works of modern and contemporary art and design, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. International names include Amedeo Modigliani, Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Frank Stella. The Japanese holdings are just as strong, with an extensive collection of paintings by Yuzo Saeki and works by Jiro Yoshihara, founder of the Gutai Art Association, the post-war avant-garde group. Design is part of the collecting remit alongside painting and sculpture, so exhibitions often move between the two.

Rather than a fixed permanent display, NAKKA runs a programme of exhibitions, drawing on its own collection and on loans, so what you see depends on when you visit. From 10 October to 20 December 2026 the main show is an exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of NHK's long-running television arts programme Sunday Museum. Check the website before you go, because admission prices are set separately for each exhibition and the museum occasionally closes for whole days, as it did on 26 October 2026.

The galleries open from 10:00 to 17:00, with admission to exhibitions until 30 minutes before closing, and the museum closes on Mondays, or on the next weekday when Monday is a public holiday. The building also has shops and restaurants with their own hours, and a paid car park, with free bicycle parking. Allow one and a half to two hours for a major exhibition. The museum suits art lovers, design enthusiasts and anyone looking for a rainy-day alternative to the city's sightseeing staples.

The nearest station is Watanabebashi on the Keihan Nakanoshima Line, about five minutes' walk from Exit 2. Higobashi on the Osaka Metro Yotsubashi Line and the JR and Hanshin stations at Fukushima are each about ten minutes away, and Osaka Station is about 20 minutes on foot; city buses 53 and 75 from Osaka Station stop at Taminobashi, two minutes away. A walk east along the island leads back towards Yodoyabashi and the cafes of Kitahama, which makes a good finish to an afternoon at the museum.