At night, the "Tutankhamun Museum" in Yokohama's Minato Mirai area transforms. The usual lighting is turned off, and participants, armed with only a lantern, venture into the dimly lit exhibition space. They observe Tutankhamun's tomb and ancient Egyptian artifacts while searching for clues hidden within the museum. This nighttime event, which easily brings to mind the movie "Night at the Museum" for many, recently went viral on X as photos from the experience spread rapidly. Many netizens exclaimed, "It's so romantic!" and "Exploring with a lantern looks amazing, I really want to go!"
With all the exhibition lights off and only a lantern in hand, you're tasked with entering Tutankhamun's world to uncover clues. This limited-time night event at Japan's "Tutankhamun Museum" in Yokohama has recently exploded in popularity on social media. The dimly lit museum, complete with ancient Egyptian murals and tomb recreations, creates an atmosphere akin to suddenly being thrust into an ancient tomb exploration mission, prompting many netizens to immediately look up tickets after seeing the photos.
▼ The X post introducing the event had already surpassed 1.05 million views and garnered approximately 11,000 likes at the time of the screenshot.
This event is the "Night Museum" experience offered by the "Mystery of Tutankhamun" immersive ancient Egyptian exhibition in Yokohama's Minato Mirai district. Participants carry lanterns through the dimly lit exhibition hall, searching for scattered clues to progressively solve puzzles related to Tutankhamun.
If visiting the exhibition during the day feels like studying ancient Egypt, the night experience immediately switches to adventure game mode. As the lantern light sweeps across hieroglyphs, statues, and tomb recreations on the walls, your vision is confined to a small area directly in front of you. Even turning a corner adds a thrilling sense of entering the unknown.
The "Night Museum" originally debuted as a limited-time event in the summer of 2025. Due to its overwhelmingly popular response, it was expanded to run almost daily from July to September 2026, with tickets consistently selling out. The organizers have now decided to extend the event until October, offering another chance for those who haven't managed to snag tickets yet.
The "Tutankhamun Museum," which hosts the event, doesn't just rely on its dim ambiance. The museum showcases over 130 meticulously crafted "super replicas," including a fully recreated Tutankhamun's tomb, the golden mask, and numerous burial artifacts. These are complemented by digital imagery and spatial presentations, allowing visitors to get an up-close look at ancient Egyptian relics previously only seen in photographs.
The exhibition is supervised by Egyptian archaeologist Shoji Kawae, and only three sets of these super replicas exist worldwide. During the nighttime event, the exhibition space, originally designed to showcase artifact details, transforms into a large-scale puzzle-solving area. Each experience lasts approximately 1.5 to 2 hours, and is limited to 50 participants per session.
Upon seeing photos of the lantern exploration, some netizens exclaimed, "It's so romantic!" while others said that just imagining exploring with a lantern makes them want to join. In the comments section, some even started chanting mysterious incantations like "Boke Boke, Gam Gam," full of ancient tomb adventure vibes, as if they had already transformed into explorers before even stepping into the museum.
▼ After seeing the event photos, netizens began imagining themselves exploring ancient tombs with a lantern.
However, some local netizens joked ruefully that they want to participate every year but always miss out on reservations. After all, the event has sold out multiple times previously. Although the October sessions have been increased to run almost daily (excluding closing days), popular dates might still require quick fingers to snag tickets.
The October 2026 sessions will take place from October 1st to 31st, excluding closing days, with three entry slots each evening: 6:00 PM, 6:30 PM, and 7:00 PM. Ticket prices are 3,600 JPY for adults, 3,000 JPY for junior and high school students, and 2,500 JPY for elementary school students. The event is not open to pre-school children.
Night Museum tickets also include admission to the daytime permanent exhibition on the same day. Participants can first view the tomb and golden mask under normal lighting, then return to the same exhibition hall at night with a lantern to solve puzzles. Tickets for October go on sale starting September 18th at 8:00 PM via "Asoview!" on a first-come, first-served basis. It seems the real first puzzle might just be securing tickets before they sell out!
via： X @hamakoreykhm