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Edo Tokyo Museum

How To Get There

The Edo Tokyo museum is easily accessible from either the JR Sobu Line (3 minutes walk) or the Toei Oedo Line (1 minute walk) via Ryogoku Station. See Tokyo train map for different lines.

This Tokyo museum will take you through the ages from when Tokyo, formerly known as Edo, first began to grow and prosper during the 1600s.

Inside you'll find some great interactive displays as well as the more usual static kinds of museum exhibits.

Don't forget to pick up a language guide right by the entrance when you go in.

The Vital Statistics - Hours, Times, Etc.

Here are the essential facts to get you started before we describe what you'll find inside this Tokyo museum.

• Opening hours are 09:30 - 17:30 (until 19:30 on Saturdays).
• Entry is allowed up to 30 minutes before closing.
• The Edo Tokyo museum is closed on Mondays. The exception is when Monday is a national holiday on the Japanese calendar the museum will be open and will close on the following Tuesday.
• If you visit during the Grand Sumo Tournament the museum is open for the duration of this event (during opening hours of course!)
• Admission fee for Adults ¥600; for Children up to 16 years old ¥300; for Students ¥480, and for Senior Citizens (65+) ¥300. Please confirm these details as they may change.

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Entering The Museum And What To Look Out For

The Edo Tokyo museum is a museum of two halves - quite literally.

It's clearly divided by the wooden replica of the Nihonbashi bridge that is the main entrance on the 6th floor.

At the entrance make sure to ask at the desk if there are any special performances being held that day and what times they will be showing. You may get lucky and see a traditional dance or play while you're here.

When you're ready, make your way across the bridge, but take a moment to look down and you will see a seated area set out before what looks like an old fashioned Japanese building.

There are lanterns and painted panels across the entrance so its easy to recognize.

Often at lunchtime and other times of day, there will be a historical or cultural display of some kind here.

Time this right and it can be a nice break between the two halves of the museum.

Performances often take place around lunchtime but for exact times do ask at the desk.

When I visited, I was happily entertained by some traditional Bon dancing as it was during the Obon festival - fantastic!

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Tokyo During The Edo Period

Over the bridge, you begin by taking a walk through old style Edo with the chance to look at some extremely detailed dioramas, or miniature replicas, that show city scapes as well as life inside the villages.

There're also life size replicas that form the middle area of the floor. Details in English are provided so that you can understand what the scenes depict and it's a real eye opener to the way that people lived during the Edo period.

Around the walls of the galleries in the Edo Tokyo museum there are display cases housing a multitude of original artefacts. They range from katana swords and samurai armour to wigs, kimonos, books and scrolls.

If you're anything like me, I love learning about the past and you really feel some of the majesty, as well as some of the poverty, that no doubt existed during this time. Seeing all the handwritten scrolls, maps and letters, all in very complex Japanese, adds the perfect finishing touch.

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Moving To Modern Tokyo

As you follow the pathway that leads you through the Edo Tokyo museum - don't worry it's all clearly signposted with arrows - you cross back under the bridge to enter the section devoted to the industrial age.

Again there are a variety of displays depicting the life and times of modern Tokyo.

There are also some original artefacts including a rickshaw and a penny farthing type bicycle that you are allowed to sit on - the perfect photo opportunity especially if you have little ones.

In amongst all of this you will, of course, find the ubiquitous museum shop, however, it does sell some rather interesting souvenirs, including these sesame getting bored rice cakes.

Now just how does a sesame rice cake get bored I wonder?

For more details about this Edo Tokyo museum, including confirming the current prices and special events that are taking place, please see the official Edo Museum website.