Japan Toy Museum - Himeji

Idyllic and superb. It is located in the rural area of Himeji and it took time to get there from Osaka. However, the experience is worth the hours

This is a real gem if you're interested at all in vintage and antique toys. The museum is beautiful and feels very cosy, and the collection is very varied. The staff made us feel very welcome and were super helpful. It's definitely worth the journey from Himeji city!

Very good place for cultural study and they have a lot of beautiful collection. Love it.

I stumbled upon this museum when looking for a place to visit in Himeji. The entrance fees are 600 yen for adults. I always been a fan of Japanese dolls (Kewpie and Licca) and also really interested in hina dolls and miniatures. I also been looking for a koi tin toys and found it here (not the one I wanted, but okay). If you have the same interest as I am, prepared to be pleased! It's full of Japanese old toys as well as toys from all over the world. There are several interactive corner which you can touch the toys and try to play it yourself. There are a lot to see here. The museum consist of 5 building. In one of the building you can even access second floor. There are also special exhibition that changed from time to time. So you might want to check out their website to know more about the exhibition. The shortcoming is this museum is like 1.2 km or so from the nearest station so it can be quite a hassle for one who didn't drive their own vehicles; but I personally enjoy walking through relatively rural area. I'm so fortunate enough to come there in weekdays when the day is slow so Inoue-sensei who is the director kindly accompanied me throughout my visit even though I don't really speak japanese, even explained how to play several toys since I'm not Japanese. I'm really interested in the book Inoue-sensei wrote several books about toys as well as how to make Japanese chirimen craft. Now I really want to buy one of the books since I want to learn Japanese and try making Chirimen craft at the same time. Chirimen craft is currently super popular in Kyoto for souvenir, but it's the first time I ever know that chirimen-craft can be used to store perfumed-packet. one of the staf-onee san also gave me a kobako(?) packet which has a really soothing scents. Everyone is so kind ?. It's such a wholesome visit. I'm so grateful

Excellent museum. A wide range of handmade toys from several countries are exhibited. Also shown are Japanese toys from different regions and eras. Museum is photo friendly as well. Descriptions of exhibits are limited and written mainly in Japanese. About a 20-25 minute walk from Koro train station.

It's kind of away from everywhere, but that's also the charm, seeing how people in a small town live and what their houses look like on your way to the museum. The museum itself has mostly older toys, so no robots or gundam or transformers or anything. It's a little interesting, but not really worth traveling for unless you have nothing else to do.

Well resourced toy museum located a bit out of the way in himeji. Naturally the focus is on a wide spanning array of Japanese toys, largely pre-80s so mostly folk toys and handmade types. Although it doesn't ignore more modern toys the owners passion is clearly on the older stuff. Features a rotating exhibit alongside the main rooms as well as a large section of folk toys around the world. Several interactive displays like spinning tops and marble droppers. Has a small gift shop as well - excellent place to visit if you can work your way there - the nearest station is Koro alongside a twenty minute walk. Small amount of English is available but you will get more out of it with Japanese language skills.

It is mandatory to visit if you reach Himeji area. There are hundreds of varieties of toys used during last 100 years, like Edo, Meiji, Showa periods in Japan and are also presented toys feom all over the world. I recommend to go with kids too, as you can experience even to play with some movable or rolling toys. It is amazing place. And the host is extremely kind person!