Edo Museum

Last Saturday, we went to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. This museum, built in 1993, is an amazing display of the history and culture of Tokyo. It spans about 400 years and begins with the beginning of Tokyo as a city, called "Edo" originally.

Getting to the museum was super easy by subway. The admission is 600 yen (about 7 bucks), so it's pretty inexpensive for what they have on display there and for the experience. If you show a college ID, it's 480 yen (little over 5 bucks).

The museum has a replica of the Nihonbashi Bridge, which was the bridge that led into Tokyo and was the pathway into the city during the Edo period. There was a lot of history on the birth of Tokyo and the politics and industrial advancements during the Edo period. They also had a lot of little mini displays of life during the time of the Edo period. Some of them moved mechanically and were pretty elaborate! I LOVED these because they were intricate and because I just love miniature models in general. There were also artifacts on display of modern inventions and influences that came from Europe and America when the Meiji Period began to happen, leading into changes since World War two. The Meiji Era began when Japan began to allow outside people to come into the country and start to modernize Japan. This was around mid 19th to early 20th century.

My classmate Rie trying to pick up 10 kilo water buckets (about 20-25lbs) like the people did back in the day.

It was a really great and relaxing time at the museum. I was initially a little stressed about homework and tried to do some there, but it was much enjoyed to just kick back and check out a true, authentic, and in-depth view of Japan history. The museum is a great way to spend an aftenoon in Tokyo. I'd recommend going if you ever make the trip out here.