“Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum” is an open-air museum in Koganei Park, Koganei City, Tokyo. Thirty historic buildings from the Edo period to the early Showa era are on display. It’s no wonder that there are many reviews that are more interesting than you might expect, with reality-filled exhibits being a popular tourist attraction. Photo can be taken in most buildings except some. There are many buildings that have become models of the work of “Studio Ghibli” (Japanese animation production company).
The main feature of the building in the Museum is that it faithfully reproduces the state of the time to the inside. In the store, dried bonito sold on shelves, cigarettes of brands that you can’t see now, are lined up, and a vacant lot with a clay pipe beside it. Every building is filled with a different world of reality where someone still lives there. It attracts many visitors.
There are nearly 30 buildings in the large site, and you can see the inside one by one, so it takes a lot of time to see all of them. Therefore, it can be said that one of the features of “Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum” is that there are many repeaters who visit twice or three times.
The site is divided into “Center Zone”, “East Zone”, and “West Zone”, so you can take a closer look at your favorite zone. It is also recommended to check around the buildings you care about in advance. There are also volunteers explaining the buildings in the museum, so if you have a building you are interested in, please ask.
In the east zone, there are shopping streets, soy sauce stores, tailors, hardware stores, flower shops, Japanese umbrella shops and dry goods stores. Because each store is faithfully reproduced, it is a mysterious space that feels nostalgic for Japanese people, even though it was the first time they came. Anyway, it is photogenic, and it is attractive to be able to take a photo that looks like a time trip no matter where you shoot.
The visitor center at the entrance of the museum is an information center where wheelchairs and baby strollers can be rented, and coin lockers are provided. The building is characterized by its heavy roof, and is based on the 2600 AD ceremony held in front of the Imperial Palace.
There is also a museum shop, and there are plenty of characters and Edomaru goods designed by Studio Ghibli’s Miyazaki Hayao. In the center zone, there are many historic buildings such as the former Jishoin Otamaya related to the Tokugawa family, the former Uwajima Domain Date Clan mansion gate, and the tea house Kaisuian.
The most popular of the Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum is Maekawa Kunio’s residence, an apprentice of Le Corbusier in the West Zone and an architect who is said to be a master of modernist architecture in Japan. Although it is a small building, it has an open living room and a simple modern interior. It is designated as a tangible cultural property in Tokyo and many students come to study architecture. Architectural beauty fascinated when you take a step. It is a building that you want to spend time and see.
In the Museum, seasonal events such as children’s day, Tanabata, autumn leaves and New Year’s Day are also very popular because of their retro feeling. Especially recommended is the Shitamachi evening cool in August. It is specially opened at night and all buildings in the facility are lit up. A fantastic atmosphere such as Bon Odori and Children’s Fair. In addition, a craftsman’s traditional craft demonstration event is held every month. You can see precious craftsmanship such as wood dolls, Japanese umbrellas, Edo Kiriko (Edo cut glass), and a chest of drawers made of pawlownia-wood.
Enjoy it slowly while thinking about the deep history of Japan
“Edo-Tokyo Tatemono En” (Open Air Architectural Museum) was built as a branch of EDO-TOKYO-Museum in 1993. It is an open-air museum which is located in Koganei Park, Koganei-shi, Tokyo, transplanting, restoring and displaying 30 buildings with high cultural value from the first half of the Edo period to the middle Showa period.
Precious buildings have been lost from Tokyo for many years due to fire, flood damage, war damage and so on. By restoration and reproduction of such a building, this facility was built to convey the culture to the next generation. “Edo-Tokyo Tatemono En” which reproduces the streets of old Tokyo and life culture is full of nostalgia. There are many sights in the park divided into the center zone, the west zone, and the east zone. If you are walking around, you will feel like a time slip in that era. You can enjoy yourself slowly while feeling yourself deeply into the history of Japan.
“Edo-Tokyo Tatemono En” has a variety of architectural style buildings with a site of about 7 hectares with good access from the city center with a 5-minute bus ride from JR Musashi Koganei Station.
“Demonstration of traditional crafts” to be held every month, “Downtown evening cool” that you can feel the scenery of the summer festival in the Showa era, etc. will be held. In addition, in “autumn leaves and lighting up of buildings” to be held in autumn leaves season, special opening of the night is performed and you can enjoy the architected lights that you can not normally see. We live in modern times where the time goes by quickly, but occasionally you should remember the distant past and experience the taste. It would be nice to miss a distant memory or to be excited about new discoveries or be enjoyed with their own values.
Exhibiting historically worth and cultural building
The “Edo-Tokyo Tatemono en” (Open Air Architectural Museum) as an annex of the Edo-Tokyo Hakubutsukan (Edo-Tokyo Museum) in Ryogoku was built in the Koganei Park. A historically worth and cultural building, which are difficult to conserve at the site as they were, removed and rebuilt them to the original state, and is opened to the public.
From the Edo era to the early days of the Showa
There are 3 zones as the east, the west, and the center on the large site, an expensive landmark architecture of the cultural value of more than 30 from the Edo era to the early days of the Showa era, are rebuilt in here. You can observe almost all of its inside.
Succeeding precious cultural heritage
As well as to reconstruct, to preservat, to display it, it seem to aim at succeeding as precious cultural heritage in the next era.
Spectacle time-slipped to a old time of Tokyo
There are classic buildings in a line on each side of the “Shitamachi-Naka-Dori” (Shitamachi street), as if you had been wrapped with a spectacle time-slipped to a old time of Tokyo. The warmth of wooden house and the color faded outer wall is very wonderful.
You could catch a glimpse of the Japanese scene stepping back in time which we have seldom seen such a sight now. Precious modern history remains in here.
Information(Access, Price/Charge, Tel, Address, Official site, etc.)
Name: | Edo-Tokyo Tatemono En (Open Air Architectural Museum) |
Adresse: | Sakuracho 3-7-1 Koganei, Tokyo 184-0005 Japan |
Access: | JR Chuo-sen Line “Musashi-Koganei-eki Station” (5 minutes by bus) |
Tel: | (+81) 42-388-3300 |
Price: | 400 yen (Adult) 320 yen (College students) 200 yen (High school and junior high school students) Free (Primary school students and younger children) Please refer the official web page. |
Official site: | http://www.tatemonoen.jp/ |
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