The Osaka Museum of Housing and Living

Visiting the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living is a fun and informative way to learn about the life of ordinary people in Osaka in the Edo, Meiji, Taisho, and Showa periods. The museum occupies the eighth to tenth floors of the Osaka Municipal Housing Information Center. The tenth floor is an observatory, while the ninth floor displays recreations of townhouses in 1830s Osaka. Also featured is a variety of buildings that range from kimono shops and Chinese goods stores to row houses for ordinary townsfolk, all reproduced based on meticulous academic research. Feel welcome to amble through the buildings and touch items on display. You might also notice the passage of time from morning to evening as background sounds and lighting change to immerse you in the atmosphere of the days of old. On the eighth floor is the Modern Osaka Panorama Tour, which uses miniature scale models to show typical housing and living conditions in Osaka after the Meiji period.

Stroll through the town of Osaka in the Edo period while wearing kimono
On the ninth floor, you can rent a kimono for 30 minutes for 500 JPY and wear it while strolling around the streets of old Osaka. The good news is that the kimono is easy to put on; it can be worn over your clothes. This service is hugely popular among foreign visitors because they can try wearing kimono at their leisure.

Enjoy events with Machiya-shu staff members
Volunteer staff members called ”Machiya-shu” cheerfully welcome you to the museum. They host regular events like the Machiya Tour, where Machiya-shu explain the characteristics and charms of Osaka as it was in the Edo period. Other events such as a picture-story show and an origami (art of folding paper) workshop are also popular with overseas visitors.

Tenroku, a town of ordinary people with Japan's longest shopping arcade
Tenjinbashi-suji Rokuchome, where the museum is located, is a town of ordinary people and known to locals as ”Tenroku.” Next to the museum is Japan's longest shopping arcade, Tenjinbashi-suji Shopping Arcade, which is a bustling hive of activity every day. After spending time at the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living, why not explore the arcade to see the life of citizens of Osaka in the present Reiwa period?