Tokyo National Museum originated in 1871 as a section within the Ministry of Education. It was placed under the authority of the Ministry of the Imperial Household in 1886 and renamed the Imperial Museum in 1889. After World War II it reverted to the state as the National Museum and in 1952 it was renamed the Tokyo National Museum in accordance with the amendment to the law for Protection of Cultural Properties. As Japan’s most comprehensive national museum, Tokyo National Museum collects, houses and holds public exhibitions of art works, archaeological artefacts and other tangible cultural properties of the East Asian region, with a focus on Japan. It also gathers books on fine arts, stone rubbings, photographs and other materials, makes such materials accessible to researchers, and also conducts associated research, training, and public education programmes.

Opened in 1895 following a decision made in 1889 to establish an Imperial Museum branch in Nara, the Nara National Museum acquired its present name in 1952. It collects and houses cultural properties, conducts public exhibitions, and researches tangible cultural properties. In addition to the permanent collection exhibition of mainly Buddhist art works from temples and shrines in the Nara area, properties kept in the Shosoin art repository are exhibited here each Autumn, and the museum also holds a variety of special exhibitions throughout the year. The museum also has an attached facility where cultural properties are restored and preserved and replicas of cultural properties are produced.

Kyoto National Museum opened in 1897 following a decision made in 1889 to establish an Imperial Museum branch in Kyoto. Donated to the city to commemorate the marriage of the Crown Prince, it was renamed the Kyoto Imperial Gift Museum in 1924. It acquired its current name in 1952 when the jurisdiction of the museum was returned the national government. Kyoto National Museum collects, houses and exhibits works of art and historical artefacts from temples and shrines in the Kyoto area, focusing primarily on objects made in the early capital from the Heian to the Edo periods. It also conducts research related to its collection and exhibitions. The Conservation Centre for Cultural Properties was established on the museum grounds for the conservation, restoration and replication of National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties.

Japan’s youngest national museum is Kyushu National Museum, which was opened on 16 October 2005. Adopting a new approach of ‘interpreting the formation of Japanese culture from the perspective of Asian history’, the museum collects, exhibits, investigates, and researches cultural properties from the standpoint of the creation of Japanese culture through ‘exchange’ with the greater Asian region from the Paleolithic age until the end of the Tokugawa period (1868).

Since 2007 the management of these four museums, together with the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo and the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Nara has been unified within the framework of the Independent Administrative Institution National Institutes for Cultural Heritage.

Opened in 1952, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo was Japan's first national museum of fine arts. It collects, houses, exhibits and researches works of modern and contemporary art, film and other relevant materials. The Crafts Gallery (1977) and the National Film Centre (1970) have since been established within the museum.

The National Museum of Western Art was established in April 1959 on the occasion of the return of the Matsukata Collection from France to Japan, and its main building opened two months later. The facilities have since been expanded through the addition of a new wing in November 1979 and a special exhibition wing in December 1997. The museum collects, houses and exhibits art works, materials and research results relating to western art, including those in the Matsukata Collection returned by the French Government.

Established in 1963 as the Kyoto Annex of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto was established as a separate institution in 1967. Its original building underwent renovation and the present building opened in October 1986. The museum collects, houses and exhibits art works, materials and research results relating to modern art.

Founded in 1977, the National Museum of Art, Osaka originally utilised the building and facilities of the Expo Museum of Fine Arts, built for the 1970 World Exposition. It moved to Nakanoshima, central Osaka, in November 2004. The museum collects, houses and exhibits art works, materials and research results relating to fine arts that are necessary for illuminating the relations between the development of fine arts in Japan and the rest of the world.

The most recent addition to the National Art Museums of Japan is the National Art Centre, Tokyo, which was opened to the public in January 2007 as the fifth national art institution. Instead of maintaining a permanent collection, the Centre makes full use of its exhibition space of 14,000 square metres - among the largest in Japan - to serve as a venue for exhibitions by artist associations with a national membership base, for exhibitions organised by the Centre itself which highlight the latest trends in art, and for exhibitions co-organised with mass media companies and other art institutions. In addition, The Centre collects information and materials related to art, primarily exhibition catalogues, and makes them accessible to the public. Through its educational programmes, the Centre is also engaged in art outreach activities for a wide range of audiences.