Are you ready for a little time travel? One step inside this shitamachi museum, and we’ll find ourseves in the streets of a lovingly recreated Edo-era town.
The Fukagawa-Edo Museum houses a whole life-size town – complete with shops, homes & treasure storehouse – that has been recreated down to the last detail. And of course, we can go inside all the buildings and get a first-hand feel for the way people lived in the samurai era.
Stroll the streets, past the fisherman’s house with all his net-mending tools…
…stop at the vegetable vendor…
…or visit the town’s most prosperous merchant…
…and see how a top-of-the-line Edo-era kitchen was stocked.
Then let’s take a stroll along the waterfront…
…as day turns to night. As an added bonus, the lighting at this museum constantly cycles through 24 hours so we can get that excellent round-the-clock experience.
Here’s a map that shows where everything is.
As we leave, let’s check out the exhibition rooms. They often have displays of traditional Japanese art, like this boggling cut paper work that I saw last time I was there.
Open: Every day and on national holidays, but closed on 2nd & 4th Mondays, 12/28 – 1/5, and the day after national holidays
This museum closed temporarily during covid, so please check to see if it has reopened before going
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 