Japan Toy Museum, Toy museum in Himeji, Japan
The Japan Toy Museum is a toy museum in Himeji that holds toys and dolls from around 160 countries, spread across six traditional white-walled dozō-style storage buildings. The buildings are made of thick clay walls and stand side by side on a grounds visitors can walk through on foot.
The museum began in 1974 when Shigeyoshi Inoue, then an employee of the Sanyo Electric Railway, turned part of his own home into the Inoue Folk Toy Museum. It took its present name in 1984. It received the 20th Suntory Regional Culture Award in 1998, a Ministry of Education regional culture commendation in 2007, and two stars in the Michelin Green Guide in 2016.
The collection features regional Japanese dolls such as Hakata dolls from Fukuoka and wooden kokeshi dolls, each representing a craft tradition from a different part of Japan. Walking through the rooms, visitors can directly compare the shapes, materials, and painting styles that set each regional type apart.
The museum is in the Kōdera area of Himeji, about 15 minutes on foot east of Kōro Station or roughly 5 minutes by car west of the Funatsu interchange. It closes on Wednesdays unless that day is a public holiday, and over the New Year period from 28 December to 2 January. Opening hours are 10:00 to 17:00.
Two of the six buildings show rotating displays of traditional toys such as kites, kendama, and mechanical dolls that change with the seasons. This means a second visit can feel noticeably different from the first.
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