Struggling to maintain visitor numbers, often in the face of drastic cuts to their budgets, many of Japan's museums have been turning to an unlikely source of respite: architecture.

That's not to say they are pursuing the so-called Bilbao Effect, whereby the museum constructs a new building so quirky that it becomes a more effective people-magnet than the art it houses. No, the trend in Japan is for existing museums to hold exhibitions of architecture. And they're proving as popular as Bilbao-like buildings.

"When we had an exhibition of (French architect) Jean Nouvel back in 2003, it was received so well that we decided to make architecture shows a regular fixture on our calendar," explains Shino Nomura, of Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery in Shinjuku.