This house is located in a small folk Museum in Yamato, Kanagawa, Japan. This house is one of two in this section of the park, which is part of a huge park and forest complex near Yamato station. There is also an old watermill in another section of the park.
When I was young, about an hour from my home was a folk museum and living history site called Norskedalen. This old site, nestled in the back of a valley in the middle of nowhere, but it still has a collection of buildings from the late 1800s that are open to visitors for tours and living history demonstrations. School children visit from all over the area every year, including me several times when I was young. I remember seeing the old farm buildings and watching old ladies make Norwegian lefsa the way they did a hundred years ago. It is a beautiful place, but it is not unique in the U.S. nor is it unique to the U.S. or the west.
Japan has numerous old houses preserved as museums all across the country. Most of the towns and cities around me, including the city I live in now, have these museums, some larger and more elaborate than others. But the intention and the desire to educate people, especially school children, about how their ancestors lived is the same. So here are some pictures from various folk museums around Kanagawa. This is not an exhaustive list, as I don’t know that I will ever find them all, much less photograph them. Many aren’t large enough for their own article, but one or two, like Nihon Minkaen in Kawasaki, may be their own separate article in the near future. And if you find yourself in Japan, look around and see if your town has one of these preserved old houses. They are usually nestled in beautiful parks and make great places to sit and relax.
This is one of two old late Edo period (early to mid 1800s) farm houses preserved in Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. This house is across from a small temple, with the second house hidden on the hill behind it. These houses are located on the north side of Chigasaki, behind a golf course and away from the main roads. It is a beautiful place, but it can be hard to find.
This is one of two old late Edo period (early to mid 1800s) farm houses preserved in Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. This house is hidden on the side of a hill behind a small temple on the north side of the city. These two houses are located far from main roads and can be hard to find if you don’t know where to look.
This cluster of old houses at Nihon Minkaen in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. Like many folk museums, including Norskedalen in Wisconsin, these buildings were deconstructed and moved to there current location.
This building is actually a very old Udon restaurant that still opens for lunch, located at Nihon Minkaen, in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.
This old house is located in a collection of parks and public forests in Yamato, Kanagawa, Japan. There are two old houses located in a separate, fenced off section of the park complex. There is no information in English, so I don’t know how old the buildings are or where they came from. I may have to visit this park again in the future.
This is the gatehouse for Nagayamon Park. This building and the associated storehouse and outbuildings are about 150 years old and are original to this site. The old house inside the complex was moved in from elsewhere in the 90s to complete the complex. All of the buildings on the site are open to visitors.
This old house is located in Nagayamontoshi Park in Western Yokohama, close to the border with Yamato city. The house is about 350 years old and was moved to the current location in the 90s as a companion to the warehouse and gate building original to the site. Yokohama is said to have a larger collection of old houses elsewhere, but I have yet to find it.
This old loom is in the second floor of the gatehouse of Nagayamontoshi Park in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The open room on the second floor of the gatehouse was full of random old objects which surrounded a cluster of modern desks. The room looked like it was being used for artifact storage and as a meeting room. There were no signs that seemed to explain what anything was but it was still an interesting place to visit.
This water chime is located in front of the old house at Nagayamontoshi park in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. Water runs out of the small cistern carved in the rock and drips down the well. As the water splashes onto the rocks, the sound resonates and can be heard as chimes by placing your ear on one of the bamboo tubes and putting the other end against the well. I’ve seen these in other parks, but I didn’t know what they were. If you ever see one, give it a try. It’s kind of cool.
Like I said before, this is not close to an exhaustive list of these kinds of small museums. Most towns and cities have them if you know where to look. So go out, explore, and see what you can find.
And if you’d like to find any of the folk museums I’ve mentioned, leave a comment below and I’ll try and point you in the right direction.