Edo-Osaka (or, much architecture very history)

museum fox mask

Japan [OSAKA] Diaries 6: 江戸大阪｜Edo-Osaka

a.k.a Finally we’re in civilisation。 somewhat.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I prefer large bustling cities over quiet ones like Kyoto, so it was, in a way, a relief to take a day trip into Osaka.

The first place we hit up was the Museum of Housing and Living. I saw this on Tricia Gosingtian’s blog a while back and it seemed to be pretty cool, so we went and checked it out?

museum 1

The main section of the museum is a reacreation of Edo period streets and houses (so much for modern civilisation eh). You can even rent Yukata to walk around and take photos in for 200JPY but the line is very long so if you don’t get in early (i.e. just when the museum opens at 10am) the wait is hella long. We got there around an hour after opening , and were told that the wait to rent a yukata was 3 hrs long… so we didn’t bother.

This aside, the museum really has a detailed recreation of the Edo- Osaka. It was even constructed using the traditional Japanese wood carpentry method sashimono : i.e. wood construction without any nails (everything is slotted). Many temples and shrines were made this way, and have managed the withstand the dynamic Japanese climate for centuries.

museum catsmuseum shrine thingmuseum interior

What made the museum feel real (despite the fact that everyone was taking selfies with their yukata) was the extreme attention to detail. Whether it’s the cats racing on the roof tops, placement of objects in the shrine, or even the interior lighting- everything contributed to creating a faithful simulacrum of the past.

Address: 〒530-0041 8F 6-4-20 Tenjimbashi,Kita-ku,OsakaCity
Access: Subway Tenjinbashisuji 6-chome Sta.(exit No.3)
Opening: 10am -5pm (closed Tuesdays)


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