ABOUT MUSEUM
Facilities
Former Okada Residence & Sake Brewery / Former Ishibashi Residence
The Former Okada Residence is a machiya—a traditional townhouse—built during the Edo period (1603–1867). The building comprises a sake brewery and a store, and is a living reminder of the townscape during the sake-brewing heyday of Itami. The Former Ishibashi Residence is another Edo-period machiya with architecture reminiscent of storefronts from that time. These machiya are open to the public and ready for your visit. Click here to learn more about the Former Okada Residence and the Former Ishibashi Residence.
Japanese Garden
Enjoy the seasons at the museum’s Japanese garden, originally created by iconic Japanese gardener Kanto Shigemori and partially modified by his son and successor, Chisao Shigemori.
Exhibition Rooms
The museum has six exhibition rooms—Room 1 on the first floor, Rooms 2 through 4 on the second floor, and Rooms 5 and 6 on the first basement floor—that host exhibitions of various sizes and themes, ranging from works of art and crafts to haikai poems and history. Room 4 is home to the Permanent Exhibition of Itami History.
Atelier
With a wide variety of crafting tools and equipment, the museum offers practical courses on dyeing and weaving, pottery, printmaking, drawing, and other disciplines as well as workshops for children. Courses on jewellery making are also held throughout the year.
Haikai / Haiku Gallery
This space provides a straightforward visual introduction to the appeals of haikai (linked poetry) and haiku in the spirit of the Kakimori Bunko Haiku Collection, which aims to familiarize people with traditional poetry. It showcases the best works of art and poetry from the collection—one of Japan’s most extensive—and their creators, and a touchscreen with entertaining and educational quizzes on haiku and cursive writing from long ago.
There are also panel displays on the origin of the collection, which is deeply intertwined with the history of Itami, and digital devices for browsing the top pieces in the collection as well as award-winning entries to haiku contests. All this and more await in this area dedicated to making traditional poetry fun and accessible to everyone.
Itami Gocho Craft Shop
The Itami Gocho Craft Shop on the first floor of the Former Ishibashi Residence displays and sells the craft works of around 100 active artists from all over Japan. The store carries ceramics, textiles, wood works, lacquerware, glass works, jewellery, and other crafts in addition to exhibition catalogs and booklets, and Kakimori Bunko merchandise.
