Summer nights at this amazing Tokyo open-air museum are like stepping back in time

Downtown Summer Evening returns to Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum.

When people think of museums in Tokyo, the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno and the Edo-Tokyo in Ryogoku are often the first two that come to mind. But for those willing to venture farther out from the city center, the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, located inside Koganei Park in west Tokyo, is an awesome place to check out.

The “museum” is actually a collection of some 30 historical buildings, originally constructed between the Edo era (1603-1868) and Showa period (which began in 1926) in various locations in Japan. Rather than leave them to fall into disrepair or, worse, be demolished, the structures were disassembled, shipped to the museum, and reassembled so that they can be preserved as physical snapshots of their historical points in the timeline of Japanese history, and several of them are open for visitors to walk through.

The Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum is worth a visit on any day, but it’s especially worth one at night, when the nearby sights of more modern Japan get covered up by shadows and it feels like you’ve traveled back in time. The museum is only open after sundown on special occasions, and thankfully one of those is coming up soon with the annual Downtown Summer Evening event.

This year’s Downtown Summer Evening takes place on August 3 and 4, when the museum’s regular opening hours of 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. get extended all the way to 8:30 p.m. Activities include an Awa-odori dance, preserved shopfronts once again open for business selling drinks and stationery, ghost stories told in a classical thatched-roof house, carnival games, and shogi (Japanese chess) sets to play with under the soothing sounds of windchimes, one of Japan’s favorite traditional ways to try to stay mentally cool in the summer. The museum also makes for an excellent photo backdrop, especially if you’re dressed up in a yukata (summer kimono) during your visit.

In addition to being one of Tokyo’s coolest museums, the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum is also one of its most affordable, with tickets priced at just 400 yen. There’s no extra charges for the Downtown Summer Evening event either, though the museum does recommend reserving tickets for those days online here, as they may sell out.

Location information
Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum / 江戸東京たてもの園
Address: Tokyo-to, Koganei-shi, Sakura-cho 7-1 (inside Koganei Park)
東京都小金井市桜町３丁目７−１ 内 都立小金井公園
Website

Source, images: PR Times
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