Shinjuku / PLACE
SOMPO Museum of Art
A museum for shifting from the high-rise city to the brushwork and colour of its Sunflowers collection painting.
Visit fitPeople who linger over one work · a scale change from buildings to pictures
It began in 1976 on the insurer’s 42nd floor and moved into its own six-storey building in July 2020. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers (1888), held since 1987, and the Seiji Togo collection shape its identity. Check the exhibition guide for works actually on view.
When viewing Sunflowers, step close and back to notice the thickness of paint and the variations of yellow.
Sunflowers painted again
The museum’s Sunflowers is an oil painting made by Van Gogh in Arles in 1888. It is thought to date from late autumn, while Gauguin was living with him, and revisits his earlier yellow-background composition. A vase and flowers provide a simple structure in which brushwork and colour can change. The basic arrangement resembles the National Gallery painting in London, but the touches and tones differ. Give the familiar image time to become a particular painted surface.
WHERE · On foot from here
How far from the station, and which side
West of Shinjuku-nishiguchi Station, about 200 m in a straight line from the station area. The shaded areas are about 5 and 10 minutes on foot from here.
Read together
Walking bands are computed by FOW on the OpenStreetMap surface street network at 80 m/min and drawn as a smoothed approximate area around the streets reached. They ignore exit positions, station interiors, underground passages, signals, slopes and routes inside buildings — not directions; follow on-site signs.
Map data: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Walking bands: computed by FOW · Station and gate notes: official guidance (2026-10-16)
Changing the scale of attention
After seeing the gaps between towers from TMG, look at the spaces made by brushwork and colour inside a painting. The collection’s Sunflowers offers a starting point in the thickness of paint and variations of yellow, beyond the familiar flower outline. Temporary exhibitions change artist and subject; choose from the museum’s exhibition guide and check which collection works are on view.
A sequence of gallery floors
The entrance is on floor 1, galleries on 3–5 and the shop and rest space on 2. White galleries on 4–5 lead towards the collection display on 3; on floor 2, a gently curved window and five-metre timber ceiling change the setting again. Floor-1 lockers are free and need no coin; reception can hold bags too large for them. Allow 60–90 minutes for a first visit as a planning estimate. Admission and audio-guide availability depend on the exhibition; choose the show before buying the ticket.
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Before you go
- Hours and fees
- 1-26-1 Nishishinjuku. Usual hours are 10:00–18:00, with last entry 30 minutes before closing. Friday extensions and admission fees depend on the exhibition.
- Good to know
- Closed Mondays (open on public/substitute holidays, closing the next weekday), between exhibitions and at year-end. Check collection display and ticket terms for the exhibition you choose.
- Access
- Barrier-free inside, galleries included. Loan wheelchairs (limited); multipurpose toilets on 2F and 5F.
Sources · image info
- Official access page Google Maps place linkSOMPO Museum of Art · as of 2026-09-29
- ご利用案内SOMPO Museum of Art · as of 2026-09-29
- Van Gogh — SunflowersSOMPO Museum of Art · as of 2026-10-19
- SOMPO Museum — floors and facilitiesSOMPO Museum of Art · as of 2026-10-19
- SOMPO Museum — Asanagi · 2024-01-25 · CC0-1.0 · resized and cropped
- Cocoon Tower — Kakidai · 2024-10 · CC-BY-SA-4.0 · resized and cropped
- ICC — Kakidai · 2024-11 · CC-BY-SA-4.0 · resized and cropped
- TMG Observatories — Kakidai · 2024-11 · CC-BY-SA-4.0 · resized and cropped
- Chuo Park — Mikhail Kotykhov · 2024-12-12 · CC0-1.0 · resized and cropped
