Kyoto National Museum

The Kyoto National Museum opened in 1897 as the Imperial Museum of Kyoto and is one of Japan's leading museums of pre-modern art. Its collection of more than 12,000 works concentrates on Japanese and East Asian art before the modern era, with particular strengths in the Heian period and in Buddhist art, and many pieces are on long-term deposit from Kyoto's temples and shrines. Because so much of what the city has produced over the centuries is still kept in religious institutions, the museum offers a rare chance to see temple treasures at close range.

There are two main buildings. The red-brick Meiji-era exhibition hall, designed by Katayama Tokuma and completed in 1895, is an Important Cultural Property and is used for special exhibitions. The permanent collection is shown in the Heisei Chishinkan Wing, a cool, glass-fronted building designed by Yoshio Taniguchi and opened in 2014. Its galleries are organised by medium and period, covering sculpture, paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, lacquer, textiles and metalwork, and displays are rotated regularly to protect fragile items, so repeat visits often reveal different works.

The large special exhibitions, often devoted to a single temple, artist or period, are major events and can draw long queues, especially at weekends. Check the exhibition calendar before you go, and visit on a weekday morning if possible. A thorough visit to the permanent galleries takes around two hours. The grounds are pleasant in their own right, with a garden, an old gate and a cast of Rodin's The Thinker in front of the old building.

The museum is closed on Mondays, or on the following day when Monday is a public holiday, and over the New Year period. Hours and admission vary with the exhibition programme, so check the official site on the day. It suits anyone interested in Japanese art and history, and it is a good choice on a rainy or very hot day, when the hillside temples are less appealing. The modern wing is step-free.

The museum stands in the south of Higashiyama, a short walk east of Keihan Shichijo Station, and city buses from Kyoto Station stop outside. Sanjusangen-do is directly across the road, and Chishaku-in and the Toyokuni Shrine are close by, so the area makes a compact half day of sightseeing.