Kadokawa Culture Museum
A day trip to Kadokawa Musashino Museum, a modern museum/library designed by Kengo Kuma.
Located in Saitama Prefecture, the Kadokawa Culture Museum is less than an hour from Tokyo
Designed by Kengo Kuma, it’s both a library and museum
Quite an unexpected sight. You walk through a typical residential neighborhood and then boom - a giant space rock castle type of thing appears.
The Kadokawa Culture Museum (also known as Kadokawa Musashino Museum) was designed by Kengo Kuma, the architect who did the Tokyo Olympic Stadium amongst a lot of other notable buildings.
Enter the rock and it’s a fully functional, 5-story museum and library.
HOW TO GET THERE
The Kadokawa Culture Museum is located in Higashi-Tokorozawa, and is about a 10 minute walk from the station. From Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo, it’s about a 40-minute trip with one transfer.
Kadokawa Culture Museum
The Bookshelf Theater in the library.
The Bookshelf Theater is one of the more notable parts of the museum. It’s two-stories high and they put on an impressive projection mapping show that incorporates the books on the shelf.
The library itself is modern with stools and chairs to sit in as you browse, and incorporating video at times in order to tell the story that’s in the books on the shelf.
Personally, I found it to be a good take on what libraries should do in order to modernize and stay relevant.
There are also special exhibitions and art galleries to browse through in the building.
Tickets grant you access to different parts of the museum. You can get them on their website.
Musashino Reiwa Shrine
Musashino Reiwa Shrine torii gate tunnel
One of the other notable sights in this this cultural complex is the Musashino Reiwa Shrine.
It represents Reiwa, which is the current period on the Japanese calendar, so everything is done in a very futuristic way. From the minimalistic water fountains, to the sharp-edged torii gate tunnel, to the illuminated main torii gate, it’s interesting to see a modern take on Japanese shrines.
Musashino Reiwa Shrine
Check out my video of my day trip here and to Kawagoe.
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Hiroshima
Left out of itineraries a bit too often, Hiroshima is one of the more overlooked cities in Japan.
Many places inspire and satisfy the cravings of experiencing things new. Few truly speak to open a dialogue with your soul. Because of its history, Hiroshima is one of them.
Hiroshima sometimes finds itself just missing the cut on itineraries due to it being a bit south from hugely popular Tokyo and Kyoto. While it doesn't have that big city life or famous, traditional themes that tend to draw people to the other two, Hiroshima is one of the more underrated spots in Japan that more people need to see.
Itsukushima's torii gate
Itsukushima shrine is one of my favorite Japanese temples and shrines as it's beautifully set right on the waterfront. It's actually on a separate island entirely, Miyajima, which has a bunch of other historical sights to see. The first thing to catch everyone's eye is the torii gate that sits in the water. The rest of the shrine is on the coastline, and due to the tides, the landscape of the shrine changes quite drastically from being surrounded by water to being able to walk out right under the gate.
Another sight I'd recommend is Senjogaku Hall which is only about 10 minutes away up the hillside.
Below Senjokaku Hall (Toyokuni Shrine), the name referencing its size of 1000 tatami mats.
Oh, and those famous deer walking around in Nara? They're all over Miyajima as well.
Of course the Hiroshima Peace Memorial is also a must see. It's one of the museums in the world that will give you a real sense of the tragedies of war. It was one of the most impactful memories of my first adult trip to Japan, and I strongly feel it should be on everyone's list. It speaks to the heart of any human being.
As you'd might imagine, due to bearing the brunt of the consequences, locals feel strongly against war and nuclear weapons here. On one of my visits to the museum, an older man was walking around handing out handmade paper airplanes with a colorful little origami crane on it - a message to visitors that we all need to work for peace.
The Atomic Bomb Dome.
Hiroshima people are pretty nice and laid back being that it's a smaller city. I've visited a few times and have always enjoyed my stay.
Hiroshima's most well known food is okonomiyaki, something like a Japanese pancake. While Osaka is also known for it, the difference with Hiroshima's is that it has a lot of noodles in it. Here's one place to check out:
Henkutsuya
While there are many okonomiyaki spots, Henkutsuya was a recommended one. It's an old, hole-in-the-wall type of place near a shopping district. What's great about it is that it's an authentic local experience with a mix of Japanese and foreign tourist customers. Some good Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki and a Japanese beer isn't a bad way to end a day here.
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Visiting the Furano area of Hokkaido in the summer, a popular tourist destination for Japanese