Van Gogh’s Rhône Starry Night in Tokyo: Orsay Masterworks From Nov 14, Advance Tickets End Nov 13

The Musée d’Orsay is sending around 110 works to Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum for What a Wonderful World: Masterworks from the Musée d’Orsay, running November 14, 2026–March 28, 2027. For travellers planning a Ueno museum day, the immediate deadline is November 13: general-admission advance tickets cost ¥2,200, compared with the regular ¥2,400 price.

Which Van Gogh “Starry Night” is coming?

The exhibition includes Van Gogh’s 1888 Starry Night, commonly known as Starry Night Over the Rhône. This is the Musée d’Orsay painting of the river at Arles, with reflected gaslights and a couple in the foreground—not The Starry Night held by New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

The Orsay’s own collection description identifies its work as the Rhône scene and distinguishes it from the later MoMA painting. The Tokyo organisers list the 1888 work as returning to Japan for the first time in 16 years.

Other headline loans include Jean-François Millet’s The Gleaners, returning to Japan after 23 years, and Paul Gauguin’s Arearea, returning after 16 years. The exhibition spans painting, sculpture, decorative arts and photography, organised into seven sections around the joys found in everyday life. It marks the Tokyo museum’s centenary and the Orsay’s 40th anniversary.

Tickets: advance sales end November 13

The official exhibition website gives the advance-sale deadline as November 13, 2026 at 23:59 Japan Standard Time. General admission is ¥2,200 in advance or ¥2,400 at the regular rate. University and vocational-school students pay ¥1,100 in advance or ¥1,300 regularly; visitors aged 65 and over pay ¥1,400 or ¥1,600 respectively. Bring proof of eligibility for concession tickets.

A timed-entry reservation is not required. The organisers warn that visitors may still have to wait to enter when the galleries are crowded. A ticket is valid for one admission during the exhibition period; ticket resale is prohibited.

Use the official exhibition website for its ticket links and current conditions. The pages checked do not establish whether every online seller accepts overseas cards or accounts, so do not assume an international purchase will work before checking the seller’s requirements.

Opening hours and closure dates

The exhibition occupies the museum’s special exhibition galleries. Hours are 9:30–17:30, extended to 20:00 on Fridays. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing. All exhibition dates and hours below are in Japan Standard Time.

The closure calendar is more complicated than “closed Mondays”:

• Closed on Mondays, except November 23, January 4, January 11 and March 22, when the exhibition opens.
• Also closed November 24, December 22–January 3 inclusive, January 12 and March 23.

The long year-end closure is particularly important for Christmas and New Year itineraries: this is not an exhibition to leave for the final week of December. January 4 is an exceptional Monday opening.

Planning a Ueno visit

For a Tokyo itinerary, treat this as a specific exhibition visit rather than assuming that the whole museum follows one calendar. Check the exhibition page again before travelling, especially around public holidays and the year-end break. Friday evening opening offers a later option, but it is not a promise of shorter queues.

Cover: Ueno Park in spring, near the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum; not the exhibition. Photo: Ka Long Li / Unsplash.

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Sources

• Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum: exhibition details, hours and closures
• Official exhibition website: highlights, ticket prices and reservation policy
• Musée d’Orsay: La Nuit étoilée, 1888