There’s a wonderful museum in Kawasaki not too far from central Tokyo:

Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum / 川崎市立日本民家園 (Kawasaki Municipal Nihon Minka-en)

The museum has over 20 historic houses that illustrate traditional Japanese folk architecture. The houses were moved from other parts of Japan to this park in the hills of western Kawasaki. This brochure shows all of the structures, with a map showing the original location of each building:

Here are some photos from my visit:

In the following two pictures we asee a takakura 高倉 (high warehouse on stilts) from the Anami / Amami Islands. This structure is from Okinoerabujima 沖永良部島 (map), which is close to Okinawa, but administered by Kagoshima Prefecture 鹿児島県.

Museum map and path:

Folk craft exhibit:

Museum brochure:

More brochure information:

Museum address:

Nihon Minka-en 川崎市立日本民家園, 〒214-0032 Kanagawa Prefecture, Kawasaki, Tama-ku, Masugata, 7 Chome−1, 多摩区枡形7−1−1 / Google map

• English website: http://english.nihonminkaen.jp/
• Japanese website: http://www.nihonminkaen.jp/

Also nearby is the excellent Taro Okamoto Museum of Art ^{1 2}, and the Ikuta Ryokuchi Park 生田緑地 (see blog):

For more Kawasaki tourism, see:

• Visit beautiful Kawasaki! (You can’t get there from here!) かわいい川崎に行こう
• Kawasaki City Guide Map
• Takatsu-ku ento-bunsui walking map (Kawasaki) 円筒分水と久地不動尊コース
• Kawasaki: Tsukui Highway and Masugata Castle 川崎歴史ガイド ⊗ 津久井道と忻形稢址
• How to get to the Kawasaki industrial zone
• Nikaryousui Canal, Kawasaki 二ヶ領用水 / 二ヶ領本川

Footnotes:

1. In central Tokyo you can see one of Taro Okamoto’s works in Shibuya station: the Myth of Tomorrow mural ↩︎
2. Taro Okamoto is the son of Ippei Okamoto 岡本 一平 (1886 – 1948), considered an early pioneer of Japanese manga. In the early 20th century Ippei’s work was seen widely, as he was a cartoonist for the widely circulated Asahi Shimbun 朝日新聞社.  Ippei also brought American comics to Japan, and his work appeared  in advertisements and books. Read more at: (a picture’s worth a thousand words) 百聞は一見に如かず, a Kawasaki sanpo ↩︎