The Least Useful Guide to Fukuoka

This fork museum exhibits everyday life between the 1930s and 1950s, until the after-war US occupation ended.

During this period, our grandfathers seem to have made intriguing inventions due to the shortage of resources; for example, paper washbasin, ceramic water pumps, etc…(sorry , no picture as I wasn’t allow to photograph the exhibition).

Unlike other national museums in Tokyo (you would understand what I mean only after visiting the National Museum in Ueno), when I visited, there were virtually no visitors. So you could thoroughly study the show without interruption. Though being alone in gloomy exhibition rooms with war memorabilia may give you a sort of horror (haunted mansion…).

A nice thing here is you can experience life during wartime which is totally unfamiliar to me despite the fact that I was born in the 1960s, not far from the time the showpieces were actually in use.

You can try clothing on, read magazines and books in the attached library, and photocopy the books if you wish. I might get this piece if I found it in a second-hand clothing shop.

Unlike other museums, there isn’t café or museum shop in this museum. I wish there was a café which offers wartime menu or a museum shop which sells reprinted editions of the old magazines.

   Entrance fee: JPY300