Railways and Architecture: Beauty and Function

Now showing3 October 2026 – 24 January 2027¥1,500

Kyoto Station 150th anniversary show on railway architecture: four generations of Kyoto Station and their architects, roundhouse drawings and historic station buildings.

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On now All of November 2026

The first Kyoto Station, opened in 1877, is here as a model. The second, from 1914, is here as a chandelier. Between them and the two stations that followed, the show covers 150 years of the building that has been Kyoto's face, with the architects of the second, third and fourth stations given their own focus.

Drawings do most of the work. One corner shows plans for fan-shaped locomotive sheds in western Japan, including the museum's own Umekoji roundhouse, which came out of the 1914 rebuild. Another pairs drawings of the old Nijo, Taisha and Nagahama stations with a footbridge from Kurayoshi and a finial tower from the second Nara station. The fourth station is the one where you lost ten minutes looking for the Karasuma exit, and here are its blueprints.

It is in the main building's second-floor exhibition room and included in the ¥1,500 admission. Last entry is 16:30, and the museum is closed Wednesdays except holidays, school holidays and 14 October. No reviews exist yet.

Editor's pick

Four generations of Kyoto Station and the architects behind them, with roundhouse drawings and historic station buildings, made for the station's 150th anniversary. If you arrived through today's vast atrium, here is what stood before it.

Look for

The first Kyoto Station model
A model of the 1877 station, the earliest of the four generations the show follows.
A chandelier from the second station
Lighting from the 1914 station building, shown beside drawings for the third and fourth stations.
Roundhouse drawings
Plans for the museum's Umekoji steam locomotive shed, set beside those of the Tsuyama and Goto fan-shaped sheds.
Old Taisha Station elevation
A front elevation drawing of the Shimane station whose exterior resembles the old Nijo Station building.
Old Nagahama Station drawings
Plans of the oldest surviving railway station building in Japan.

Good for

Nerding Out
Rainy Days

Skip if

You want trains rather than buildings: the show is drawings, a model and station fittings.

With kids

Tickets are ¥500 for elementary and junior high pupils and ¥200 for children aged 3 and over. The display is drawings and architectural pieces, with no interactives listed.