Shimano Bicycle Museum — Attraction in Sakai

A surprise find near Sakai Higashi Station. Two levels of very old to ultra-modern bicycles.

What's refreshing about this museum is ghat Shimano does not use the opportunity to sell-promote, except for a small, and perhaps specialist-oriented, parts display on the fourth floor.

Instead, the museum does its best to promote the evolution of the bike generally, riding culture in Japan specifically, and the origins of bicycle-making in Sakai (including strange twist of artisans moving from gun manufacturing, which also required iron-working skills, to bicycles and later to bicycle parts.

The museum features ample signage in English, and most of the short films are available in either Japanese or English, played at specific times (in the large second-floor space) or on-demand (lobby). The one downside to the films is that their contents overlap, though with varying detail - just something to keep in mind if you like to watch things from start to finish.

Overall, the museum appears new, modern, and is nicely air-conditioned (we visited in mid-July, probably 35 or 36C outside), without...

Excellent museum! Super informative and I thought that was every aspect a museum needed to have beside exhibition. I came by this museum by chance when I surveying a tourist pamphlet for things to do in the rain since the forecast would be rain all day the day after. I was not into cycling. I went there because my father was assembling his own e-bicycle lately as a hobby. When we land on Japan this year and we saw that more citizen use it nowadays. He enthusiasticly studying any e-bike parked on the roadside. This is the first time I saw my dad looking at museum exhibition with glee. Usually he just strung along. I had a great time too and I think because this museum provide lots of information in English. I know that this is Japan and very much accepted when there weren't many English version of things. I could use Google translate for many things. But I really appreciated the museum effort for incorporating English on...

This museum is beautiful and the people who work here are amazing. A must see in Osaka/Sakai! It's located in a new, modern and large building with three floors. It's mostly about the history of cycling witg a large collection of different bikes, from very old to modern. And features 2 movies in English, one about the history of Shimano and one on the history of the bicycle. I was expecting more details on typical Shimano parts like gears and brakes but it's mostly limited to the high end models Dura Ace and XTR. We were lucky with getting a private tour from a very nice co-worker. There is paid parking in front of the museum and please do not loose your ticket because then you need to pay 5000 Yen! We were very fortunate with another very supportive and English speaking person at the Museum who called the parking agency and negotiated a day ticket for me (600 Yen). You rarely see such a flexibility when making a...