Open-air Museum of Old Japanese Houses
May 01, 2006
In keeping with my wish of trying to go somewhere new at least once every two weekends, the lady and I went to the Open-air Museum of Old Japanese Houses. As boring as that sounds it was something to do. When you spend three years in Osaka, every little thing that even remotely sounds interesting becomes interesting.
Fortunately, it turned out to be quite interesting and it offered a stroll through Ryukuchi-koen, a gem of a park in the middle of Osaka. The park was big enough to hold a lot of people enjoying 花見 parties. The museum is really a park in itself with old farm houses brought over from all over the country. These houses were often over a hundred years old. A lot of the houses were built to house a big family – up to and over 20 people living in the same complex.
Most of the bigger structures had huge thatched roofs. Sometimes the thatching was quite thick and waterproof. It didn’t stop a lot of wasps from making homes inside though.
Details
The museum was a nice quiet get-away from the bustle of downtown Osaka and at 500 yen admission, it beats a McDonalds lunch. Ryokuchi-koen Station on the Midosuji Line – follow the signs inside the park.
