 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
| You will receive a free quarterly E-mail Newsletter! |
|
 |
Ryokan & Restaurants
in Hyogo which are English-friendly. |
|
 |
| Guided Tours Available by volunteers in Hyogo
Translation Service is also available. |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
A
Tale of Two Museums in Arima
By Shigeaki Araki, TID |
| ˜
Autumn 2005˜ update |
| One day mid-September morning I visited
Arima area. The temperature was rather high in comparison with the usual season.
Getting off the train at Arima Onsen Station on the Kobe Railway, I walked to
the Arima Toys & Automata Museum first. Many tourists were walking along the
main road and alleyways in threes and fives bringing souvenirs they had bought
at gift shops. |
| I studied and gathered information in this
museum for about two hours. I saw parents and children, a group of young ladies,
some young couples and individuals look at the exhibits and enthusiastically ask
the quick questions. Then I proceeded to the Philatelic Culture Museum opened
in May this year, walking up the Mannenzaka. |
| The outline of these two museums are as
follows. |
| “ARIMA TOYS & AUTOMATA
MUSEUM. |
 |
In Arima Spa Resort, which has more than 1300 years of history,
there was plenty of wood and bamboo. So people in Arima made handiwork like “Arima
brushes” or “Arima baskets”. And “Kishi-ji” that
made wooden bowls by using potter’s wheel lived in Arima. Their skill is
very similar to wood turning that appeared 250 years ago in Seiffen, Germany.
From these origin and relation, Arima Toys & Automata Museum aims to be the
base of making, also taking into consideration “play-time pleasure”
and “culture”. |
The museum opened in 2003 and about 4,000 kinds of toys are on
display. More than more than 35,000 visitors come each year. In recent months,
about 5% of these visitors are from other nations. According to the statistics
revealed by Japan Toys Association parents in Japan will spend 47,500yen per year
on toys for each child per year. |
| The layout of the floors is as follows. |
|
(6th Floor) –German Traditional Toys-
In the Erzgebirge region, a part of the former east Germany, there are more than
2,000
Toy-making studios. Seiffen, which shares a border with the Czech Republic, is
well known as the cradle of the Nutcrackers, the motif of a Tchaikovsky’s
ballet
The Nutcrackers, Smoking Men, Noah’s ark and animals and other figures are
were made by toy masters in Seiffen, Grunhainichen, Olbernhan, Oberammergau, and
Berchtes Garden.
This floor collects figures created by German toy masters.
Earlier, toys produced in Germany represented 30% of the toys in the world, 40%
of these in Europe, and 50% of these in Germany. In March 1997, the Toys’
Highway Route was set up connecting production zones and sales areas including
Hamburg, Bremen, Hameln, Berlin, Waltershausen, Dresden, Sonneberg, Seiffen, Frankfurt,
Coburg, Rotenburg, Nurenberg, Twindorf, Munchen, Oberammergau, and Berchtesgaden.
|
(5th Floor) –Contemporary
Toys-
Many toys are produced then discarded one after another. Some toy artists and
companies create special toys that become good friends of children. This floor
introduces today’s good toys chosen by Arima Toy & Automata Museum.
Children learn about the world through playing. So we believe that toys should
be simple for children to play with using their imagination to stimulate their
creativity. |
(4th Floor) –Modern
Automata-
Even children’s toys got as complicated as a black box today. This floor
presents modern mechanical toys, so called “Automata”, which have
complex mechanisms for movement.
The origin of the Japanese mechanical toy is in Hyogo Prefecture. The puppeteers
led by Hyakudayu, which propagate the “Yebis” religion, the tragic
love story of Yoshitsune and Joruri princess, the shamisen instrument from Ryukyu,
and the storyteller Gidayu Takemoto, were unified into the Joruri Puppet Play
and then developed on Awaji island in Hyogo. |
(3rd Floor) –Tin
Toys & Model Trains-
On this floor there are a lot of classic toys made from tin that have been revived
today. Tin-Toys originated in the mechanical puppets like the old-fashioned “Tea
Serving Robot” or the “Joruri” puppet from the Edo period. Until
the 1950’s Japan was the leading manufacturer of tin-toys. This floor has
a wide range of tin toys from Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Japan, and
shows the history of the tin-toy and its manufacturing process. The most popular
exhibition is the railroad model made by the famous maker, Marklin of Germany.
It is operated every hour on the hour and attracts many children. The train starts
from Baden-Baden and goes to Arima Onsen (Spa). |
| [Access] |
5 minutes walk from Arima Onsen Sta. on Kobe
Railway
10 minutes walk from Arima Sta. on the Rokko Arima Ropeway
1 minute walk from Arima Onsen stop on the Hankyu Bus line |
[Open]
9:30~18:00 [Closed] 2nd & 3rd Tuesdays
| [Admission] |
1,000yen (Adults & Junior High School
Students and up)
500yen(Children) |
[Address] 797 Arima-cho, Kita-ku,
Kobe 651-1401, Japan
[Phone] 078-903-6971 [Fax ] 078-903-6981 [URL]
http://www.arima-toy.jp |
 |
THE PHILATELIC
CULTURE MUSEUM
(The Postage Stamps Museum) (Arima, Kobe) |
 |
When I visited there the special exhibition being held was
titled “the Centennial Anniversary concluding the Russo-Japanese Peace Treaty”.
A lot of prisoners’ letters and post cards sent from the front of the Russo-Japanese
War (1904-5) were displayed. The exhibiter was Mr. Jiro Ohnishi, Director of the
Philateric Culture Center. The regular exhibition hall consists of three parts. |
| 1 |
The history of the Japanese postal service from the foundation
to the present day. |
| 2 |
Examples of postage stamps from the first issued in Japan
of Ryuumon
(Design: Dragon means Ryuu in Japanese and Face Value Unit: Mon) to the present
day in chronological order. Historically excellent foreign choices are also displayed.
|
| 3 |
A portrait of Mr. Hisoka Maejima, founder of the Japanese
Postal Service (painted by Mr. Saburosuke Okada) and his handwritings, the Philatelic
Information
Materials such as the text of the United Postal Union (UPU) Treaty, the Railroad
Line Map and Postal Working goods such as a shoulder box for letters delivery
are displayed. |
|
[Scheduled
Special Exhibitions]
| *October 5 (Wed.)~17(Mon.) |
Theme: Ships & Mail
Exhibitor: Mr. Yoshiro Sasaki, Councilor
Philatelic & Culture Center |
| *November 16(Wed.)~28
(Mon.) |
Theme: The Postal History of Kobe
Exhibitor: Mr. Akira Nishida, Director
Kansai Philatelic League |
| *December 7 (Wed.)~19(Mon.) |
Theme: Kansai Postage Stamps Exhibition
Exhibitor: Members of the Kansai Philatelic League |
|
| [Access] |
8 minute walk from Arima Onsen Station, Kobe
Electric Railway
7 minute walk from Arima Onsen Bus Stop, Hankyu Bus
15 minute drive from the Chugoku Highway, Nishimomiya Kita.I.C. |
[Open]
10:00~16:00 (Entrance closed at 15:30) [Closed] Tuesdays
| [Admission] |
Adults: 500yen / Junior & Senior High
School Students: 200yen /
Primary School Students: Free |
[Address] 663-3 Arima-cho, Kita-ku,
Kobe 651-1401
[Phone] 078-904-0024 |
|
Arima Onsen(Spa) is probably one of Japan’s
three oldest hot spring resorts together with Dogo(Matsuyama,Ehime Pref.) and
Shirahama(Wakayama Pref.) . There are still areas with small wooden ryokans (Japanese
style inns), twisting narrow streets and several rustic temples and shrines dotting
the hillside.
If you’ve not been to an onsen resort, Arima is worth dropping by to see
what one is like, and it’s also possible to hike to the top of the mountain
in around an hour.
To reach the resort by train from Kobe(Sannomiya) take the subway to Tanigami,
transfer to the Kobe Dentetsu line to Arima Guchi, where you may have to change
again
to reach the bus stop at Arima Onsen. The trip takes around thirty minutes and
costs 900yen. (one way)
Besides onsen bathing, there are other things to experience. After staying in
Arima’s Hotel or a Ryokan(Inn), you can visit two special museums the next
day in Arima. “Arima Toys & Automata Museum” and “The Philatelic
Culture Museum”(described above). Of course you could include these museums
in a one day trip. |
|
|
|
|
 |
Hyogo
Tourism Association
Prefectural Industry Hall , 7-28-33 Nakayamate-dori ,Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, JapanPostal Code:650-0004
Tel:078-361-8086 Fax:078-361-8087
e-mail: |
|
|
|