Fukuchiyama Poppoland Railway Museum, Railway museum in Fukuchiyama, Japan.
Fukuchiyama Poppoland Railway Museum is a railway museum in Fukuchiyama with collections of locomotives, carriages, destination boards, and uniforms. The exhibits document how regional rail transportation developed and changed over time.
The museum opened in 1998, founded by local shopkeepers and JR retirees to display items from the former Hokutan Railway. Building 1 occupied a 1933 department store that later served as a bank and recycling centre. A 200 million yen private donation in 2019 led the city to build a new hall, which opened on 26 August 2023 as Fukuchiyama Railway Museum Fukurel.
The museum shows how trains changed in Japan through small-scale models and displays of different train types that people used over time. Visitors can see how these machines became part of daily life in the region.
The two buildings are not next to each other: Building 1 stood in Shimoshin, Building 2 is in Hishiya, and only Building 2 is currently open, on Thursdays closed and with shorter hours from November to March. Building 1 shut on 31 March 2018 for seismic reasons; its exhibits moved in 2023 to the new Fukuchiyama Railway Museum Fukurel in the Fukuchiyama Castle Park waterfront plaza.
Building 1 occupied a 1933 structure built as the Mitsumaru department store, later a bank branch and a recycling centre before the museum took it over. Its entrance reproduced the interior of the former Hokutan Railway station building. Building 1 closed on 31 March 2018 over seismic safety.
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