Step off the train and step back in time with a walk around old Japan
I had a rare day off last Wednesday, and so with the sun shining I left the house early and headed west out of Tokyo taking the Inokashira line up to Kichijoji and then changing onto the Chuo line bound for Musashi-Koganei. As the train sped along I was able to catch glimpses of Mount Fuji rising in the distance. When I got off the train I wanted to get a better view and so I went into a shopping mall, opened the fire escape and climbed up to the top of a multi-story carpark. I guess random moments like this – being in a random place, with a such a view – are why I continue to live in Japan.
After I climbed back down I caught a bus beside the station out to the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum. Since the Edo period, Tokyo has lost many of its valuable historical buildings to fires, floods, earthquakes and warfare. And so the aim of this museum is to relocate and exhibit these buildings, most of which are impossible to preserve in their original locations. Arriving not long after 10am, I pretty much had the place to myself, and it was a peaceful way to spend my day off. The old sento (public bathhouse) with its mural of Mount Fuji was probably the highlight. Funny that I had seen Fuji that day myself.
IKIMASHO!
There are a few different train lines you can take to get to the museum. From Musashi-Koganei Station on JR Chuo Line take the bus at platform No. 2 or 3 near the north exit of the station. Get off at Koganei-koen Nishi-guchi and walk for 5 min.
From Hana-Koganei Station on the Seibu-shinjuku Line take the bus for Musashi-Koganei Station, get off at Koganei-koen Nishi-guchi, and walk for 5 min.
Entrance to the museum is 400yen. Closed Mondays.
IKIMASHO! 