If you’re looking for a museum that feels bold, playful, and unmistakably Kobe, the Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art (横尾忠則現代美術館) is a must. Dedicated to the legendary artist and graphic designer Tadanori Yokoo, it’s a compact but high-impact space where exhibitions rotate regularly.

Located near Oji Park in Nada Ward, the museum is easy to pair with a stroll through the neighborhood or a broader “Museum Road” day. Inside, you’ll find Yokoo’s vivid visual world, psychedelic graphics, painting, design, and cultural cross-currents, presented with the kind of curatorial clarity that makes it enjoyable even if you’re not already a superfan.

Quick info

  • Type: Contemporary art museum / Rotating exhibitions / Archive materials (appointment-based)
  • Address: 3-8-30 Harada-dori, Nada-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 657-0837, Japan
  • Hours: Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30)
  • Closed: Mon (or next weekday if Mon is a holiday), year-end/New Year, and during maintenance
  • Phone: +81 (0)78-855-5607
  • Email: archive@ytmoca.jp
  • Cost: Varies by exhibition (first floor is free)

What you’ll find

  • Rotating exhibitions focused on Yokoo Tadanori, often revealing different sides of his practice across art, design, and visual culture.
  • Contemporary museum experience in a small footprint—easy to fit into a day, but visually memorable.
  • Archive Room materials (free, appointment required) for deeper research into Yokoo’s world.

Getting there

The museum is in Nada Ward, near Oji Park. It’s about a 6-minute walk from Hankyu Oji-koen Station, a 10-minute walk from JR Nada Station, and around 12 minutes from Hanshin Iwaya Station. For navigation, plug “Yokoo Tadanori Museum” into your maps app.

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Good to know

  • Check the current exhibition on the official site before you go—admission fees can change depending on what’s on.
  • Follow updates on Instagram for show announcements and event info.
  • Photography is generally allowed without flash or tripods, but some works may be restricted—look for gallery signage.

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James Macdonald
James Macdonald
1 month ago

I visited the Y-junction exhibition in 2024, which was very well curated. Tadanori took a Polaroid of a small junction at night in his hometown in Hyogo and that became the starting point for a series of landscape paintings on the theme of divergent paths, forks in narratives. The museum was easy to find from Ojikoen station. It’s about a 5-minute walk past a zoo and opposite a large orange brick building which turned out to be a literature museum. I didn’t have time to see that.

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Art Spots Kobe is a handpicked collection of creative venues, events and activities in Kobe, Japan, curated by a long-term resident of the city. (More →)

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