Tokyo Nat'l Museum mulls opening at nights during Olympics, Paralympics

TOKYO -- The Tokyo National Museum is considering extending its opening hours during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics from July to September to welcome more foreign tourists.

Currently, the opening hours of the museum in Tokyo's Taito Ward run from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, and until 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Monday is a regular holiday. During the Olympic Games, however, the museum is considering extending its 5 p.m. closing time to 9 p.m. It will reach an official decision as early as February.

The museum hopes that visitors to Japan will not only enjoy seeing the games, but also come into contact with Japanese culture, seeing the move as a way to boost Japan's "nighttime economy."

The museum displays art works, historical materials and archaeological relics from Japan and other parts of the Eastern world. As of April 2019, the collection of over 117,000 items included 89 national treasures.

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo is also considering specially opening on Mondays, when it is normally closed, during the Tokyo Games period. The modern art museum in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward is located near the Nippon Budokan martial arts hall, the venue for judo and karate, so it expects spectators to come to the museum before and after the games.

A representative of the Agency for Cultural Affairs commented, "The museums are now considering the details. We hope the move will be a boost (to the nighttime economy)."

The Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to be held from July 24 to Aug. 9 while the Paralympics will run from Aug. 25 to Sept. 6. As for public transportation, about 60 lines managed by 19 railway operators in the metropolitan area plan to delay their last trains departing from major stations in central Tokyo until 1 to 2 a.m. during the Olympics. They also plan to move back the last trains by up to an hour on the days of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Paralympics.

(Japanese original by Nozomu Takeuchi, Political News Department)