Japan Toy Museum, Toy museum in Himeji, Japan
The Japan Toy Museum is a toy museum in Himeji housing over 90,000 toys and dolls from 160 countries across six traditional white-walled storage buildings. The collection spreads throughout these historic dozō structures, which preserve classical Japanese building heritage.
The museum opened in November 1974 in traditional dozō storage buildings, preserving the architectural heritage of Japanese warehouse construction. These structures show how Japanese people historically protected goods and organized space.
The collection features regional Japanese dolls like Hakata dolls from Fukuoka and wooden kokeshi dolls, representing different craft traditions from across the country. These pieces reflect the local artisanal skills that have shaped communities over time.
The building sits near Himeji and offers a self-guided tour through multiple traditional rooms with clear navigation. Plan several hours to explore the various collections in each storage building at a comfortable pace.
Two of the six buildings feature rotating exhibitions throughout the year with traditional toys like kites, kendama games, and mechanical dolls. These changing displays give return visitors something new to discover with each visit.
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