Where to see Van Gogh in Japan?
Des Sunflowers from Shinjuku to the roses of Ueno, then from Hakone to Hiroshima, here are the works actually preserved in Japan - and the essential difference between permanent collection, rotation and temporary exhibition.
Flagship work: the yellow bouquet from the Sompo Museum in Tokyo.
For just one step, go to Sompo Museum. For a day in Tokyo, add it National Museum of Western Art.
Sompo, Ueno, Artizon and Tokyo Fuji.
Three oils in the Pola collection.
The big one Daubigny Garden.
"At the museum" does not always mean "in the dining room"
Japan retains several important Van Goghs, but only one painting dominates the trip: the Sunflowers from the Sompo Museum in Shinjuku.
For other museums, three situations must be distinguished: work announced in the current exhibition, work belonging to the collection but likely to be filmed, and temporary loan already completed. This guide indicates the state published by the institutions on July 18, 2026.
Van Gogh never went to Japan. He discovered the country through prints, notably Hiroshige and Eisen, from which he took the framing, the flat areas and sometimes directly the compositions.
The 7 museums to know
The status is deliberately cautious. "Collection" requires checking the day’s hanging; "exposed" corresponds to dated official information.
| Museum | City | Van Gogh to spot | Status as of 07/18/2026 | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sompo Museum of Art | Tokyo · Shinjuku | Sunflowers, 1888 | PERMANENT EXHIBITION | Essential |
| National Museum of Western Art | Tokyo · Ueno | Roses, 1889 | EXHIBITED UNTIL 01/11/2027 | Highly recommended |
| Artizon Museum | Tokyo · Kyobashi | Mills in Montmartre ; Dr. Gachet's etching | COLLECTION · CHECK | According to hanging |
| Tokyo Fuji Art Museum | Tokyo · Hachioji | Cottage with Peasant Woman Digging, 1885 | COLLECTION · CHECK | Targeted excursion |
| Pola Museum of Art | Hakone | Three oils, from 1888 to 1890 | ROTATION · CHECK | Museum + landscape |
| Hiroshima Museum of Art | Hiroshima | The Daubigny Garden, 1890 | ANNOUNCED IN THEATERS | Late masterpiece |
| Menard Art Museum | Komaki · Aichi | The End of the Day (after Millet) | COLLECTION · CHECK | For specialists |
Sompo Museum: the Sunflowers of Japan
1-26-1 Nishi-Shinjuku · 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. · Friday until 8 p.m
The museum acquired this painting in 1987. Van Gogh painted it in Arles from the yellow bouquet made in August 1888 and today in London. However, the Tokyo version is not a mechanical copy: the background, the touch and the rhythm of the flowers change.
Van Gogh painted seven canvases of sunflower vases in Arles. The one in Tokyo belongs to the group of large versions with a yellow background, designed to decorate the Yellow House and accompany the workshop project shared with Gauguin.
Painting to see at the Sompo Museum
Sunflowers
PERMANENT PRESENTATIONObserve: the dialogue between the warm, greenish yellows, the blue ring of the vase and the impasto of the flower heads.
This revival of the London bouquet modifies each flower. Van Gogh does not reproduce a fixed image: he reconstructs a decorative balance intended for the Yellow House.
Go deeper →
Roses at the national museum
7-7 Ueno-koen · 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. · Friday and Saturday until 8 p.m
Roses, painted in 1889, belongs to the Matsukata collection. The work is announced in the exhibition dedicated to conservation and restoration, of June 30, 2026 to January 11, 2027.
After the dense yellow of Sunflowersthis bouquet offers another experience: whites, greens and pale pinks vibrate in a tight space. The pigments have changed over time, all the more reason to read the canvas also as a material object.
Artizon Museum
The museum preserves a Parisian oil, Windmills on Montmartre (1886), as well as an etching from the Portrait of Doctor Gachet.
COLLECTION · CHECKOfficial page →Tokyo Fuji Art Museum
The collection includes Cottage with Peasant Woman Digging, painted in Nuenen in 1885. The move only makes sense if the record confirms her presence.
COLLECTION · CHECKOfficial page →Tokyo Council
The three neighborhoods are connected by train and metro. Keep Hachioji for another half day.
1 DAY WITHOUT RUNNINGOfficial page →Paintings to see in Tokyo museums
Roses
EXHIBITED UNTIL 01/11/2027Observe: the curved touches of the bouquet, the vase almost absorbed by the background and the red pigments now weakened.
The work from the Matsukata collection is currently integrated into the restoration course. His current palette does not entirely correspond to that taken out of the workshop.
Go deeper →
Windmills on Montmartre
ARTIZON · COLLECTION, CHECKObserve: the still earthy palette, the freer sky and the opposition between old rural Montmartre and the modern city.
This oil belongs to the first Parisian year, before the colorful explosion of Arles. It shows how Van Gogh gradually lightened his painting.
Go deeper →
Portrait of Doctor Gachet
ARTIZON · COLLECTION, CHECKObserve: the concentration of the line around the face, the cap and the hand, without the help of large flat colored areas.
This is a print and not one of the two famous digitally painted portraits. This difference in technique makes the comparison particularly instructive.
Go deeper →
Cottage with Peasant Woman Digging
TOKYO FUJI · COLLECTION, CHECKObserve: the tiny silhouette of the peasant woman, the massive roof and the dark range of earth, ocher and green.
This painting precedes Paris and Arles. It places Van Gogh in his initial ambition: to give monumental density to peasant work.
Go deeper →
Pola Museum: three Van Goghs in the mountains
The Pola collection has exactly three oils: The Gleize Bridge over the Vigueirat Canal (1888), Clumps of Grass (1889) and Flower Vase with Thistles (1890).
They summarize three ways: clear architecture of Arles, almost abstract soil of Saint-Rémy and late bouquet. The collection page currently marks the thistle vase, but the hanging may change.
The three Van Gogh paintings in the Pola Museum
The Gleize Bridge over the Vigueirat Canal
COLLECTION · CHECKObserve: the diagonal of the bridge, the banks cut into colored bands and the dry clarity of the South.
The bridge and the canal are not a simple topographical survey. Van Gogh uses architecture to organize depth and lead the gaze into the landscape.
Go deeper →
Clumps of Grass
COLLECTION · CHECKObserve: the very low point of view, the absence of horizon and the transformation of ordinary ground into a network of keys.
Nature is observed a few centimeters away. Roots, grasses and earth become an almost abstract surface, without losing their botanical energy.
Go deeper →
Flower Vase with Thistles
REPORTED IN THE COLLISIONObserve: the bristling thistles, the compact shape of the vase and the contrast between dark flowers and a light background.
This late bouquet is less theatrical than the Sunflowers. Its tension rests on the tips, broken stems and more nervous material.
Go deeper →
The Daubigny Garden: a panoramic farewell
3-2 Motomachi, Naka-ku · 9 a.m. - 5 p.m
Painted in Auvers in July 1890, The Daubigny Garden measures over a meter wide. The garden of the admired painter becomes a frieze of foliage, flowers and roofs, crossed by a black cat.
The official list of works presented has indicated this in theaters since April 1, 2025. This information remains more reliable than an old photo or a travel ticket: check the updated PDF before departure.
Painting to see at the Hiroshima Museum of Art
The Daubigny Garden
ANNOUNCED IN THEATERSObserve: the panoramic format, the black cat, the floral masses and the way the roof appears between the foliage.
Van Gogh admired Daubigny as a precursor. In this large version, the garden becomes at once a tribute, an intimate landscape and a field of colorful forces. Compare it to other views of the same garden: the boundaries, the flowerbeds and the house never play exactly the same role.
Go deeper →Menard and the Millet vein
The Menard Art Museum preserves The End of the Day (after Millet), 1889 -1890, as well as a plaster torso studied by Van Gogh. Oil is not guaranteed in the room: see the current exhibition.
Why this table matters
Van Gogh takes an engraving after Millet but transforms the rural evening with color. The folded silhouettes, the low sun and the furrows become a network of blue, ocher and purple.
This work reminds us that Japanese collections are not limited to Japonism or bouquets. They cover Nuenen, Paris, Arles, Saint-Rémy and Auvers.
Menard official sheet
Evening: The end of the day
Van Gogh transforms Millet's model into a chromatic vision of work and rest.
See reproduction →Painting to see at the Menard Art Museum
The End of the Day (after Millet)
COLLECTION · CHECKObserve: the disk of the sun, the two curved peasants, the blue and yellow furrows and the transition from the engraved model to an autonomous painting.
Van Gogh works from a reproduction of Millet during his stay in the asylum. He retains the structure of the motif, sometimes reverses the relationships and completely invents color to transform the exercise into a personal homage.
Go deeper →Organize the trip
Japan does not offer a single "Van Gogh Museum". You have to build a route and accept that certain works rotate.
Tokyo essential
Ueno in the morning for them Roses, then Shinjuku for them Sunflowers.It's the best choice if you only have one day.
Complete Tokyo
Add Artizon to Kyobashi. Book Hachioji for a second day only if Tokyo Fuji exhibits its canvas.
Hakone
An independent day from Tokyo: Pola museum, forest and possibly tour around Lake Ashi.
Westerly
Hiroshima for Daubigny. Komaki near Nagoya only after checking the Menard collision.
Sunflowers, Japan and collections
Twelve paintings to prepare the eye before the museum: works preserved in Japan, nearby versions and subjects that illuminate the route.
Vase with fifteen sunflowers
The large yellow version kept in Shinjuku.
See reproduction →
Vase with flowers and thistles
A bouquet that allows you to approach the thistle motif of the Pola Museum.
See reproduction →
Portrait of Doctor Gachet
Artizon etching takes over Auvers doctor.
See reproduction →Gîte with peasant woman digging
The cottages and dark earth of the Dutch period.
See reproduction →Evening: The end of the day
Millet's cover kept in the Menard collection.
See reproduction →
Bridge in the rain, according to Hiroshige
Van Gogh reframes and intensifies a composition by Hiroshige.
See reproduction →
Two sunflowers cut
Before Arles, Van Gogh painted the heads of cut flowers.
See reproduction →
Four faded sunflowers
The faded sunflower becomes material, rhythm and color.
See reproduction →Continue by theme
COLLECTIONSunflowersBouquets of Arles and cut flowers of ParisCOLLECTIONVan Gogh and JapanHiroshige, Eisen, framing and flat colorsCOLLECTIONThe RosesWhite, pink and laurel bouquetsCOLLECTIONVan Gogh in ParisMontmartre, flowers and discovery of printsCOLLECTIONVan Gogh after MilletWorkers, sowers and evening scenesCOLLECTIONVan Gogh in AuversDaubigny, Gachet and the last weeks
Check before visiting
Schedules, loans and skirmishes change. These institutional pages are the references to reopen the day before.
Sompo Museum · Sunflowers
History, dating and permanent presentation.
NMWA · Roses
Matsukata collection sheet.
NMWA · exhibition 2026 -2027
Announced presence of Roses.
Pola Museum · Van Gogh
The three oils in the collection.
Hiroshima · Daubigny's Garden
Instructions and practical information.
Hiroshima · indoor list
Official hanging document.
Menard · The End of the Day
Oil dimensions and instructions.
Artizon · Van Gogh collection
Montmartre oil and Gachet etching.
Photo credits: Sompo, Tengusabaki, CC BY-SA 4.0 · NMWA, Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pola, Rlbberlin, CC BY 3.0 · Hiroshima, Taisyo, GFDL.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers for choosing your museum without confusing possession, loan and exhibition.
Where to see Van Gogh's Sunflowers in Japan?
At the Sompo Museum of Art in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The museum presents its yellow-bottomed version as an iconic permanent work.
Which Japanese museum has the most Van Gogh paintings?
Among the sets detailed here, the Pola Museum of Art has three oils. Their presentation alternates, so check the hanging.
Can you see Van Gogh in Tokyo in one day?
Yes. Start in Ueno for Roses, optionally pass through Artizon in Kyobashi, then finish at the Sompo Museum in Shinjuku.
Is the Daubigny Garden on display in Hiroshima?
It appears on the official list of works presented since April 1, 2025. Consult the updated PDF before the visit.
Did Van Gogh go to Japan?
No. His Japan is that of prints imported to Europe, collected in Paris and reinterpreted in his painting.
Is the Van Gogh exhibition in Nagoya still open?
No. The Aichi Prefectural Museum exhibition ended on March 23, 2026.
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