Ueshima Museum
This private art museum in Shibuya occupies a renovated 1989 building on Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen grounds, the former site of the British School in Tokyo.
UESHIMA MUSEUM is a private art museum located in Shibuya, situated on the grounds of Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen – the school from which museum collection owner Kankuro Ueshima graduated. The institution is housed in Ueshima Tower, Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen, a building renovated from the former premises of the British School in Tokyo. Originally established in 1988, the British School in Tokyo held its opening ceremony in 1989 in the presence of the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and continued to operate at the site until August 2023. The building was subsequently renovated and reopened as the museum's permanent home.
Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen is known for its emphasis on international education and its guiding philosophy of Jicho-Jiko – "Seek and Think for Oneself" – a principle that informs the broader ethos of the museum.
The museum's collection is assembled by Kankuro Ueshima, who serves as its director. Born in Chiba Prefecture in 1979, Ueshima graduated from Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Makuhari Senior High School in 1998 before enrolling in the Natural Sciences program at the University of Tokyo. While studying in the Faculty of Engineering, he founded his own business and has since built a broad portfolio as an entrepreneur and investor. In 2024, he was named among the Top 200 Collectors by ARTnews, one of the art world's most established publications.
Among the museum's facilities is its tea room, Kankai-an, which opened to the public in May 2026. Conceived as a meeting point between contemporary art and the Japanese way of tea, Kankai-an invites visitors to prepare and enjoy a bowl of matcha while engaging with the tea utensils, the architectural space, and a rotating selection of works drawn from the museum's collection. The displayed works are changed periodically, allowing returning visitors to encounter the space in a new context on each occasion. Kankai-an also serves as the venue for occasional tea gatherings hosted by Kankuro Ueshima.
Visitor sessions at Kankai-an are held five times daily, with a small capacity per session. Advance reservations are required and can be made through the museum's official website. Through this combination of tradition and contemporary practice, Kankai-an offers an additional perspective from which to experience the UESHIMA MUSEUM COLLECTION.
