AWT BUS
RiDE FOR FREE
NOVEMBER 6–8
Art Week Tokyo is a dynamic, citywide event with no main venue and no single entry or exit. Instead, the AWT Bus service is the engine of Art Week Tokyo’s programming. From Friday, November 6, to Sunday, November 8, a network of hop-on, hop-off buses links all participating venues and special platforms across multiple routes, making it easier than ever to navigate the city’s art scene. Buses are free to ride and run every 15 minutes from 10am to 6pm.
Ask the staff at your first point of embarkation for an Art Week Tokyo wristband to get started.
GETTING AND USIMG YOUR ART WEEK TOKYO WRISTBAND
Art Week Tokyo wristbands are available for free at any AWT Bus stop as well as at information desks at participating museums. Just ask the staff for one and then show your wristband to ride the bus.
A wristband is valid for the entire day on which you get it and allows for unlimited rides on the bus. You must pick up a new wristband at the start of your next day.
Wristbands also grant discounted admission at participating museums.
GET MORE OUT OF THE AWT BUS
Get more out of the AWT Bus service by riding it in combination with other modes of transportation, from train lines to taxis and walking on foot.
Consider walking from one stop to the next, which is a great way to explore different neighborhoods. Some routes also come within walking distance of each other at certain stops.
Switching to the subway or jumping in a taxi will help you cover even more ground. Since the AWT Bus can be boarded from any stop, you can always get back on the bus at your convenience.
You can also use the AWT Bus express line, which runs between AWT Video in the east and AWT Bar in the west, to get from one side of the city to the other.
Read on to learn more about each route.
ROUTE A
Originating from the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, where the collection display covers more than a century of Japanese modern and contemporary art, Route A loops through the northern part of central Tokyo. All the venues here have distinctive spaces, starting with SCAI The Bathhouse in picturesque Yanaka.
Misako & Rosen, SCAI The Bathhouse, Waitingroom, and XYZ collective are presenting AWT Focus exhibitions.
The AWT Video stop offers connections to Route C and the express line to the AWT Bar.
ROUTE B
Route B is anchored by the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa, a traditional postwar Tokyo neighborhood where a bit of exploration leads to artisanal coffee roasters, handcrafted jewelry shops, and up-and-coming galleries. Closer to the city center, the Artizon Museum occupies a state-of-the-art facility in Kyobashi across the way from the Toda Building gallery complex.
Yutaka Kikutake Gallery and Mujin-to Production are presenting AWT Focus exhibitions.
TIP
Stop B5 is a 10-minute walk from stop C2.
ROUTE C
Route C concentrates on Ginza, the historic center of Tokyo’s art world. The neighborhood is home to numerous corporately sponsored art spaces, including Chanel Nexus Hall, Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum, Pola Museum Annex, and Shiseido Gallery, as well as veteran dealers like Gallery Koyanagi and Tokyo Gallery + BTAP.
Shibunkaku is presenting an AWT Focus exhibition.
The AWT Video stop offers transfers to Route C and the express line to the AWT Bar.
TIP
Stop C2 is a 10-minute walk from stop B5.
Stop C4 is a 4-minute walk from stop D6.
ROUTE D
The main landmark on Route D is the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, with the Mori Art Museum occupying its topmost floors and some of the city’s leading galleries, including Taka Ishii Gallery and Taro Nasu, clustered in its shadow. From there the bus weaves through the broader Azabu area, home to spaces ranging from Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki Gallery to the international Pace Gallery.
Misa Shin Gallery and Take Ninagawa are presenting AWT Focus exhibitions.
TIP
Stops D1 and D2 are a five-minute walk from each other. Both stops are a 10-minute walk from stop F2.
Stop D4 is a 15-minute walk from stop E8.
Stop D6 is a 4-minute walk from stop C4.
ROUTE E
Route E bridges the Minami-Aoyama, Meguro, and Ebisu districts, covering some of the trendiest parts of Tokyo. Built in the 1930s as an Art Deco mansion for a member of the imperial family, the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum is one of the city’s architectural gems, while the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum holds down a corner of Yebisu Garden Place, a mixed-use development constructed in the 1990s.
The AWT Bar stop offers connections to Route F and the express line to AWT Video.
TIP
Stop E8 is a 15-minute walk from stop D4.
ROUTE F
This might be the ideal route for anyone who wants to see as much of Tokyo as possible in a short time. Route F circles through many of the city’s key neighborhoods for fashion and nightlife, winding from the National Art Center, Tokyo, in Roppongi to Watari-um in Gaienmae, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery in Shinjuku, and Espace Louis Vuitton in Omotesando.
Space Un is presenting an AWT Focus exhibition.
The AWT Bar stop offers connections to Route E and the express line to AWT Video.
TIP
Stops F1 and F8 are a 10-minute walk from each other.
Stop F2 is a 10-minute walk from stops D1 and D2.
