Lovely little museum with works of Yayoi Kusama which was very beautifully curated. There was also a special metalwork exhibition by Katori Hotsuma that required additional ticket to view. The work was exquisite, however my experience was ruined by a very rude staff member who scolded me in Japanese quite loudly for taking photos when there was no signs at all about not taking photos/videos. And then she proceeded to follow me throughout the exhibition and tipped off the other staff member to keep an eye on me. It was as though I was treated like a thief, which was a terrible feeling when you’re supposed to be enjoying the art.

In the Yayoi Kusama exhibition, there were clear “no photo/video” signs in English both at the entrance and in front of the mirror room in multiple languages, which we happily obliged. But in the Katori Hotsuma exhibition, the staff member did not mention this rule when checking our tickets, nor was there any signage throughout the exhibition, so I don’t understand why she needs to publicly shame me. When I responded saying there is no signs saying I couldn’t do so, she simply said “arigatou” to cut me off and prevent further discussion. Later we found that it was written on the back of the ticket in very small font and in Japanese only. I am not Japanese, so there was no way I could’ve gotten the memo.

The museum gets quite a lot of foreigner tourists who came to see Yayoi Kusama’s work, so if you want us to follow your rules, maybe there should be more clear signs and better training for the staff to communicate it in a respectful manner.