The world’s first Snoopy Museum branch outside of California, and by far the best place in Tokyo for Peanuts fans, we finally got to visit the brand new Snoopy Museum Tokyo in Minami-Machida, and the neighboring PEANUTS Cafe!

Getting to the Brand New Snoopy Museum Tokyo

While the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA has been open for years, Japan's Snoopy Museum Tokyo first came into being in 2016 as a limited-time exhibition in the middle of Tokyo. Two and a half years wasn't enough to satisfy Peanuts fans from all over the world, however! So in December 2019 the museum opened in a new Tokyo facility, expanding to twice its previous size, and thanks in part to an accompanying PEANUTS Cafe, packing twice the Snoopy-filled punch! Nobody on the JAPANKURU team had gotten a chance to visit the previous museum location and see what Snoopy and Charlie Brown were up to there, so we were pretty excited to finally make our way over and see what all the fuss is about.

The museum's brand new building is in the Machida area of Tokyo, a little removed from the hustle and bustle of its previous location. You'll now find it on the edge of the Minami-Machida Grandberry Park outlet mall, bordering the cheerful greenery of Tsuruma Park. If you think doing a little shopping, enjoying some mild Tokyo weather in the park, and immersing yourself in a whole lot of Snoopy sounds like a good time, you might want to make it a whole day trip! We ended up visiting after sunset, so no all-day excursion for us, but the brightly lit museum and cafe were quite welcoming against the dark sky.

To get to the Snoopy Museum Tokyo, you'll want to take the Den-en-toshi Line to Minami-machida Grandberrypark Station, which is just a couple minutes walk from the museum and cafe. If you're in Shibuya (or anywhere on the Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line) you're in luck, since you can take the train directly over, no transfers! It's unlikely to be a difficult trip from anywhere in the city, though. And once you arrive, there are some pretty cute Snoopys placed strategically around the complex, guiding you to your destination.
 

*(We highly recommend you buy advance tickets instead though – available here. Admission is divided into 5 time slots a day, so advance tickets can help you plan your timing better, and they're also 200 yen cheaper!)

Our Museum Tour Begins

A trip to the museum starts with a bang, as you slip into a dimly lit square room, and slowly but surely, the walls come to life with color and movement! Taking advantage of some playful projection mapping, Snoopy and co explore the walls, climbing stairs and slipping down slides, welcoming you to the museum with an original animation! Our eyes whipping from one wall to the next, it was definitely a fun way to start.

The Charles Shulz Gallery

The museum's permanent exhibition starts, well, just where you might think – at the beginning! Circle the room to learn about the life of the late great Charles Shulz, creator of Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts crew. The old photos and explain some of the connections between his personal life and the comic, and we loved seeing some footage of the master at work.

The Peanuts Gang Gallery

This huge room is sure to be a favorite for many fans! Huge displays featuring beloved characters, extra-large reproductions of Peanuts comics throughout the ages, trivia on Snoopy and the Peanuts Gang, and vintage memorabilia of all kinds, it's a Peanuts wonderland in here.

The Snoopy Room

Then… Can you tell from this picture? These Snoopys are GIANT!

And there are a few different kinds, too! An adorable (and adorably huge) sleeping Snoopy, sliding Snoopy, some old-fashioned Snoopys… all different sizes and scales. If we didn't already feel like we'd entered wonderland before walking into this room, we certainly did afterwards.

The Temporary Exhibition: Here Come the Beagle Scouts!

When we visited, we got to see "Here Come the Beagle Scouts!" Unless you're planning to visit before the end of June 2020, though, you'll probably see something totally different! To keep things fresh, the new Snoopy Museum Tokyo has a temporary exhibition space, meant to host a variety of fun, themed Peanuts displays.

The Woodstock Room

Don’t Leave the Museum So Soon!

The Workshop Room

If you love to get hands-on when it comes to your favorite things, or just want to have a little bit of extra fun during your visit to the museum, sign up for an activity in the workshop! Make some reservations in advance, and you can participate in one of a number of frequently changing crafty activities that will get your creative juices flowing. Sew yourself a little Peanuts coin purse, or a stuffed toy! Put together a Snoopy-themed candle! Or maybe, for a bit of uniquely Japanese fun, cook up some traditional Japanese sweets… Snoopy-style, of course!

Brown’s Store

Even if, like us, you don't get a chance to try out a workshop activity and make something to take home, you didn't think you were going to leave empty-handed, did you? The giftshop at the Snoopy Museum Tokyo, "Brown's Store," is not only huge… the majority of the products inside are Brown's Store originals!

Is it just us? All the limited-edition merchandise was way too hard to resist!

July Nine Sushi Sacks with featuring Beagle Scout Snoopy, classic Japanese Morinaga sweets (including their delectable milk caramels) with vintage Charlie Brown on the box, special Tokyo memento mint tins, and Peanuts paper tape in widths and designs galore… you might happily blow your budget going a little crazy here! You can buy a fair number of the original products on the Brown's Store webshop page if you really want (and get them shipped to you during your stay in Japan), but we decided to use it more as a shopping list creator!

Goodbye to the Museum!

Heading Next Door, to the PEANUTS Cafe

Just because we'd finished exploring the Snoopy Museum Tokyo didn't mean our Peanuts-themed night was over! It was time for dinner at the PEANUTS Cafe, which is kind of a fascinating mix of playful theming and surprising sophistication. Walk in to the seating area, and your eyes will immediately be drawn to the bright red doghouse shaped structure in the center of the room. Let your eyes wander, and you might start to ponder… is this a cutesy destination for little kids, or an elegant cafe? The answer is really a little of both! We really appreciated the touches of Snoopy detailing in among the relaxed, simple interior.

If you just want a snack after walking around the museum, their pancakes are a solid choice! And the S'Mores Shake was predictably delicious. With a bit of a Beagle Scouts theme throughout the cafe, there had to be something s'more flavored! Perhaps the most unique flavor profile out of everything was the smoothie we tried, which tasted of tart red fruits, and finished with the distinctly metallic tang of beets!

Continuing with the theme of original merchandise, we were charmed enough by the plates, napkins, and silverwear at the cafe that we wished aloud that we could take it home with us as well… and were promptly told that we could indeed buy all of those things at the gift shop. Very tempting.

Next Time, We’ll Come for a Picnic!

And before we knew it, we were done with dinner, and on our way home. (Of course, not before searching out this series of giant statues, showing the evolution of Snoopy over the years!) It had been a pretty exciting evening out in Machida, and we'd all seen more Snoopy in these few hours than we'd probably seen over the past few years. But there's no question – when the temporary exhibit changes next June, we'll be ready to do it all over again!

Have you been to the brand new Snoopy Museum Tokyo already? Did you visit the museum in its original location? Perhaps you have a tour of PEANUTS Cafes and Snoopy-themed spots in the planning stages right now? Let us know about your time in Tokyo, or your upcoming plans, on twitter, instagram, and facebook!