The Edo Fukagawa Museum in Tokyo reproduces the town of Fukagawa-Saga during the late Edo period. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
In quiet Koto ward, away from the neon-lit skyscrapers and frenzied pace of central Tokyo, the Fukagawa Edo Museum offers a portal to a bygone era.
It costs only a few hundred yen to explore this carefully reconstructed neighborhood from the late Edo period (1603-1867) — a time when samurai strolled the streets and merchants sold rice and vegetables out of wooden storefronts.
Unlike a typical museum filled with mannequins and glass cases, Fukagawa Edo is interactive. Visitors are encouraged to wander its narrow alleyways, invite themselves inside a merchant’s home or gaze up at the towering fire watchtower.
The Edo Fukagawa Museum in Tokyo reproduces the town of Fukagawa-Saga during the late Edo period. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
A wooden box holds broken dishes at Fukagawa Edo Museum in Tokyo's Koto city. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
Visitors explore the Fukagawa Edo Museum, which reproduces the Tokyo town of Fukagawa-Saga during the late Edo period. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
The tableau is completed by a boathouse and other period-accurate structures, each built using traditional methods to capture the atmosphere of shitamachi — Tokyo’s historic downtown — in the 1840s.
The experience is made even more realistic by sound and lighting effects that signal the changing time of day, brightening the markets in the morning and casting long shadows in the evening. It’s easy to imagine Edo-era residents haggling over fresh fish or gathering for a neighborhood event.
As you explore, volunteer guides — some of whom speak English — are on hand to offer deeper insights into daily life during the 1840s.
A visitor explores the Fukagawa Edo Museum, which reproduces the Tokyo town of Fukagawa-Saga during the late Edo period. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
Visitors explore the Fukagawa Edo Museum, which reproduces the Tokyo town of Fukagawa-Saga during the late Edo period. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
A vegetable store displays its wares at the Edo Fukagawa Museum in Tokyo. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
An Edo period garment hangs inside a row house at the Fukagawa Edo Museum in Tokyo. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
For those looking to dive into Tokyo’s past, Fukagawa Edo is a great substitute for the much larger Edo-Tokyo Museum, which is undergoing extensive renovations and won’t reopen until next year. What Fukagawa Edo lacks in size, it makes up for with intimacy.
In a city where the past and future frequently collide, Fukagawa Edo Museum offers a chance to go back in time, if only for an afternoon.
On the QT
Directions: A short walk from the A3 exit of Kiyosumi-Shirakawa Station, accessible by the Toei Oedo and Hanzomon metro lines. 1-3-28, Shirakawa, Koto-city, Tokyo 135-0021.
Times: Open daily 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the last admission at 4:30 p.m. Closed on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, or the following day if a public holiday falls on those dates.
Costs: 400 yen for adults; 50 yen for ages 6-18.
Food: The surrounding neighborhood hosts a variety of small, local cafes and restaurants.
Information: Phone: 03-3630-8625; Online: kcf.or.jp/fukagawa
