Tokyo Waterworks Historical Museum, Waterworks museum in Hongō, Japan
The Tokyo Waterworks Historical Museum documents the history of Tokyo's water networks from early handmade systems to modern facilities. The three-story building contains pipes, pumps, measuring equipment, and documents showing how technology changed over time.
The museum opened in 1995 to document water supply development since the Edo period. Its collection spans from handcrafted pipes to mechanical systems that transformed the city.
Water management shaped how Tokyo residents organized their neighborhoods and daily routines over centuries. The exhibits show how people adapted to different systems and relied on these infrastructures for basic needs.
Visitors can enter free of charge and find audio guides in several languages throughout the building. The library on the top floor offers additional resources for those wanting deeper information.
The second floor displays original wooden pipes that carried water through Tokyo for centuries, revealing how craftspeople engineered complex networks without modern tools. These pipes are remarkably well preserved and show the handmaking techniques of the past.
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