Oct–NovA Kengo Kuma building with a timber atrium, shared with the city library. Dale Chihuly's installations fill the Glass Art Garden on the 6th floor, floors 2–4 hold free glass, and the permanent collection costs ¥200.
The museum’s own website was down for maintenance on 27 October 2026 and pointed visitors to its Instagram account (@toyamaglassartmuseum). The exhibition Brilliant Color ended on 12 October; the next one was not published. Phone 076-461-3100 before you go if the exhibition matters.
The Toyama Glass Art Museum (富山市ガラス美術館) sits on floors 2–6 of TOYAMA Kirari, a Kengo Kuma building that opened on 22 August 2015. The permanent collection is ¥200, children up to high school are free, and special exhibitions are priced separately. It opens 9:30–18:00 (to 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays) and closes on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month. From Toyama Station take the tram to Nishimachi; the entrance is 1 minute away.
Toyama turned its medicine trade into a glass trade: pharmacists needed good bottles, and the craft grew into the city’s glass institute and a community of working artists. The museum is the public face of that. Kengo Kuma designed the building with a timber-clad atrium that pulls daylight down through the floors, and the Toyama City Library main branch shares it on floors 3–6.
It is one of the few museums where the building and the collection are equally worth the trip, and at ¥200 for the permanent collection it is cheap. Plan one to one and a half hours, and put it next to Kansui Park or the Toyama City guide for the rest of the day.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Opening hours | 9:30–18:00; to 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Last entry 30 minutes before closing. The shop and café close at 19:00 (20:00 Fri and Sat). |
| Closed | 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month, and the New Year break; exhibitions can change this. Next closures: 4 and 18 November, 2 and 16 December 2026. The shop and café close only on the 1st Wednesday. |
| Admission | Permanent collection ¥200 (groups of 20 or more ¥170); high school students and younger free. Special exhibitions cost extra. |
| Free glass | The Glass Art Passage on floors 2–4 is free to enter. A special-exhibition ticket also admits you to the 6th-floor garden. |
| Glass Art Garden (6F) | Five installations by Dale Chihuly and his studio, three of them made in Toyama. The garden’s own price is not confirmed; ask at the desk. |
| Access | Tram from Toyama Station towards Minami-Toyama Ekimae to Nishimachi, 1 min on foot; or the Centram loop to Grand Plaza-mae, 2 min. Tram ¥220 a ride, ¥650 day pass. |
| Facilities | Museum shop and café on the 2nd floor, lockers, a nursing room, barrier-free access and wheelchair loans. |
| Address | 5-1 Nishimachi, Toyama City, 930-0062. Phone 076-461-3100. |
Allow an hour for the whole building; the garden and a special exhibition each take about 30 minutes.
The top floor holds works by the American glass artist Dale Chihuly and his studio: five installations, three of them made in Toyama for the museum. Our Toyama City guide lists two of them, Toyama Mille Fiori and Toyama Float Boat. They are the reason most people climb the escalators, and the colour reads best on a grey day.
Glass cases run along the stairs and escalators on floors 2–4. Listings describe about 50 works by 20 artists with a Toyama connection, and you can see them without a ticket. It is the cheapest way to get a feel for the collection if you only have twenty minutes.
The atrium is wood lattice and glass with a skylight, and escalators cross it so you see the structure from every level. The building has one basement and ten floors and also holds the head office of Toyama Dai-Ichi Bank on the lower and upper floors; the city library fills floors 3–6 on the north side. Ask at the desk whether the library reading floors are open to visitors that day.
The 4th-floor room tells the city’s glass story, from pharmacy bottles to contemporary studio glass. Temporary shows fill the 2nd and 3rd floors; whichever is on will have its own price, and a special-exhibition ticket also covers the 6th-floor garden.
The museum is in the city centre, west of the station.
Take the city tram (Toyama Chiho Railway) from the station towards Minami-Toyama Ekimae and get off at Nishimachi (西町), then walk 1 minute. The Centram loop line stops at Grand Plaza-mae, 2 minutes away. Toyama Castle Park is 15 minutes on foot from the museum.
The museum is 1.4 km south of the station through the city centre, a flat walk. Toyama Castle Park is 15 minutes on foot from the museum.
Toyama is 2h 4m from Tokyo and about 25 minutes from Kanazawa by Hokuriku Shinkansen; the Toyama access guide has fares and passes. The museum is a half-day stop on the way through.
The building is the easy part. Dates and tickets are the part that catches people.
The museum is in the centre, so any hotel on the tram line works. These three are the easiest to reach.
Beside Toyama Castle, a few minutes by tram from the museum. A chain-hotel base if you are mixing the glass museum with the castle and the evening opening.
Five minutes on foot from the station on the Sakurabashi-dōri tram line, so the museum is one short ride away.
In the station building, which makes the tram to Nishimachi your first step in the morning and the Shinkansen your last in the evening.
The permanent collection is ¥200 for adults (¥170 each for groups of 20 or more), and high school students and younger are free. Special exhibitions are priced separately. The Glass Art Passage on floors 2–4 is free to enter.
It opens 9:30–18:00, until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. It closes on the first and third Wednesday of each month and over New Year, though special exhibitions can change this. The next closures are 4 and 18 November and 2 and 16 December 2026.
Take the city tram from Toyama Station towards Minami-Toyama Ekimae and get off at Nishimachi; the museum is 1 minute on foot. The Centram loop line stops at Grand Plaza-mae, 2 minutes away. A tram ride is ¥220 and a day pass is ¥650.
It is the 6th-floor space with installations by the American artist Dale Chihuly and his studio: five works, three of them made in Toyama. A special-exhibition ticket admits you to it. The garden’s own price is not confirmed, so ask at the desk.
About one to one and a half hours: 20 minutes on the free glass on floors 2–4, 30 minutes in the 6th-floor garden and 30 minutes in the permanent collection or a special exhibition.
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