As a part of Topic of Japan (TOJ) class requirements in this semester, I have to do one Japanese cultural experience. We had 3 choice of cultural experience, the first one is doing Japanese tea Ceremony, second is watching Kabuki or Bunraku, and the third one is visiting Japan open air folk museum.
Actually I wanted to see the Bunraku but because the ticket price is expensive (around 2000 yen) so I decided to go to Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum. This is a place to conserve Japanese traditional architecture by relocating several traditional Japanese houses & buildings from all over Japan to this exhibition area. The city of Kawasaki began to relocate the houses since 1965 and currently has 25 buildings in its exhibit. The houses are varied, and include examples from regions of heavy snow, lodgings for travelers, and a theatrical stage.
Not only buildings are preserved but also additional tools and utensils were kept at the designated area to help depicting the situation of the past.
We came in a group of 19 people. The admission fee was 250 yen because we came in group (the minimum group was 20 people, but we were really close to 20 so they permit it). The usual price was 500 yen for adult and 300 yen for 65+ years and students.
The first time we arrived, we bought the ticket and enter the museum house. The museum house is a room that displays miniature of Japanese traditional houses and buildings. From this place we get overview information about Japanese traditional architecture. After that, we went outside. That where our tour began.
We were welcomed by The Hara house. It was from Meiji period (1868-1912) and was originally located in Musashi-kosugi, Kawasaki City. It is now used as a lecture space and for display of seasonal exhibits. For me, this house is totally depicts the situation of Japan just like in the samurai movies.
From that place, we explore the whole area from houses to houses. They were really amazing and authentic. We can see that the interior and layout of each building could be different depend to the purpose of the building. They are provided with kitchen bath room, and a room that can be functioned as a living room, dining room, and bed room. This kind of room is still used in Japanese modern architecture.
The last building we visited was traditional Kabuki stage. There were Sakura blossom blooming around the building. The blossoms were blown by the wind and falling around the building. It looked so beautiful. It was just like a pink colored snow flurries. We took a group photos in front of the Kabuki stage.
It took around 3 hours to explore the whole area. It was really a good experience for me. It was quite different from Japanese architecture for temples and shrines. I learn a lot how Japanese people in the past arranging not only a convenient house but also efficient. I also enjoyed this trip as we went together with other YSEP and Japanese student from TOJ class.
