Tobacco & Salt Museum — Attraction in Tokyo

Fairly large immaculate and well designed museum in a rather inconvenient location. English labels and subtitles in many places. It was located in Shibuya from 1978 until 2013.

I'm sure everyone asks "why tobacco and salt?" when they first hear about this museum. I know I did. The Japanese government kept a monopoly over the domestic sale of these two commodities for a long time. Sales regulations were relaxed in 1985 for tobacco and 1997 for salt.

The first floor has free lockers and a small gift shop where you can buy salt and tobacco (naturally). A number of varieties and some only tangentially related novelty items are also available. There is also a workshop room which is open for special events.

The salt exhibits take up most of the second floor. This was a good mix of real, historical artifacts, scale models, and videos. Few hands on activities. Most of the space was given over to the many methods used over time to extract salt from the ground and from the sea. There is also a special exhibits space here.

The third floor contained the tobacco exhibits which also contained a lot of historical background and reconstructed artifacts. A large area was given over to an amazing collection of antique pipes from all around the world. There is also a theater and a smoking room on this floor. I would've liked to see more content devoted to the dangers of smoking but the place seems to be located in a former Japan Tobacco warehouse so you can't expect too much there.

The fourth floor has a library while the top floor has a space for eating and drinking with a few drink vending machines and a view of the Sky Tree.

The cost is very affordable but the content is not compelling for young kids. Take them to play on the nearby Oyokokawa river park instead. Recommended for junior high school kids and up with an interest in...

I originally wanted to go to this museum as a bit of a joke, because tobacco and salt seem like such a strange pair to house in the same museum. However, now I'm really happy that I went.

Firstly, the reason why this museum is focused on tobacco and salt, of all things, is because from 1949-1985 tobacco and salt were strictly controlled under a government-owned monopoly corporation, thus the inseparability of the two products' history in Japan.

The first exhibition space is all about salt, and it delves into the details of salt production not only in Japan but also the world. Real salt crystals from countries around the globe are on display. The science behind salt production and also why it's necessary for humans to consume it is also highlighted.

The second exhibition space is a really cool journey into the history of tobacco, from it's earliest uses by the indigenous peoples of the Americas all the way to modern cigarettes and cigars today. Tobacco products from throughout the world and throughout history are on display, as well as a special showcase of Japanese tobacco production and consumption.

Overall, a really cool niche museum. I...

This little museum is better than it has any right to be given it's obscurity and very specific theme. At first the combination might sound unusual but it does make sense considering it was established in the past century by the, then still existing, state-owned Salt&Tobacco Company. Although the museum itself is already a little older they only moved into this new building a few years ago and everything looks very modern and slick. The exhibitions are highly curated and focus on the titular topics of salt and tobacco respectively without overwhelming you with huge amounts of information, unlike other museums. The permanent exhibit consists of one floor about the nature, history of production in Japan and metabolic functions of salt, as well as another floor about the consumption of tobacco throughout history. Most text in the permanent exhibition is displayed in both Japanese and English though this might not be the case in the temporary exhibit. To top it all off the admission is a mere 100¥ making this museum an easy recommendation if you ever happen to be in the...