This is another of Yokohama’s narrowly themed museums (along with a tin toy museum and the Anpanman Children’s museum, among others) but for anyone with even a passing interest in dolls, the museum is just astounding. Bisque, papier-mache, china, cloth and celluloid dolls all crowd side by side her...
Kawasaki’s Toshiba Science Museum was launched, in part, to combat waning interest in the natural sciences among children. It does a pretty good job of this, overall, not only through its exhibits but also through various events and educational outreach and awards programs for youth. As a corporat...
The Yokohama Raumen Museum is another food theme park, this one devoted to one of Japan’s true obsessions, the now world-famous noodle soup called ramen. The museum’s odd spelling of ramen is intentional, an old fashioned pronunciation that sounds nostalgic to Japanese visitors.
The museum docu...
14 kilometers east of Sapporo’s downtown, the Historical Village of Hokkaido is one of the city’s most interesting attractions. The village preserves about 60 stone and wooden buildings from the Hokkaido’s early days, scattered across 133 acres. And these aren’t just small cabins and a few post offi...
Anyone with even a passing interest in Art Nouveau or Art Deco may want to stop by one of Hakone’s newest museums, dedicated entirely to the work of the French jeweler and glass artist Ren Lalique, a leading figure of both styles.
Over the course of his celebrated career, Lalique made jewelry for...
Visitors to Kawasaki shouldn’t pass up one of Japan’s most interesting museums. Started forty years ago, the Kawasaki Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum preserves more than 25 (they hope to add more) historic buildings moved here from locales across the country. Most of these are houses, representin...
The Peace Memorial Park and Museum are a part of any trip to Hiroshima, and the city's most widely recognized symbol is the Atomic Bomb Dome. It's a sobering sight, as is the rubble field around its perimeter, a reminder of what six square kilometers of downtown looked like following the blast. The ...
The architecture, gardens and exhibits of the world famous Adachi Art Museum offer an aesthetic banquet to visitors. The building itself draws you on past a superb collection of modern Japanese art, including about 130 pieces by the Yokoyama Taikan, a pioneer in the Nihonga movement which sought to...
The little town of Koga in southern Shiga ken is famous for being one of the birthplaces of the ninja, Japan’s legendary medieval spy assassins. Today, the Koga Ninja Village welcomes visitors who are interested in the history and arts of the ninja.
Although there’s more than a whiff of kitsch a...
Another of Kanagawa’s attractions is the Enoshima Aquarium, certain to be a hit with anyone interested in marine biology. The Big Sagami Bay Tank recreates the ecology of nearby Sagami Bay, including a school of over 8,000 sardines that swim together in tight, spiraling formation. The Jellyfish Fa...
The Peace Memorial Museum’s main purpose is to sustain the memory of the events of August 6th, 1945. In meeting that purpose, it features exhibits educating visitors about the buildup to the war and the development of nuclear weapons, the city both before and in the days following the atomic bombing...
The story of Mikimoto Island is really the story of Mikimoto Kokichi, who pioneered the production of cultured pearls. Born the eldest son of an udon noodle maker in the Shima Peninsula’s town of Toba, Mikimoto developed a childhood passion for pearls after seeing the famous pearl diving “Pearl Mai...
The Sapporo Okurayama Ski Jump was used as the Large Hill event stage in the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics. There had been a ski jump here since 1931, when a smaller facility was built with help from Crown Prince Yasuhito, the younger brother of Emperor Hirohito. For the Olympics, the ski jump was en...
At the engaging Omoide Taiken Kan (Experience Museum) just west of downtown Takayama, visitors can make their own souvenirs, from candles to senbei rice crackers and sarubobo, a famous local doll used as a charm.
The architecture, gardens and exhibits of the world famous Adachi Art Museum offer an aesthetic banquet to visitors. The building itself draws you on past a superb collection of modern Japanese art, including about 130 pieces by the Yokoyama Taikan, a pioneer in the Nihonga movement which sought to...
