Local Museum and Archives

Learn the history and culture of Kiso

Learn of the history, culture, and lifestyle of Kiso through easy to understand displays at the museum and homestead, including material relating to figures with deep ties to Kiso, such as Yoshinaka Kiso and Toson Shimazaki.

Recommended Spots

Kaida Highlands

A Nagano Prefectural Treasure, the Yamashita Residence and Kaida Archeological Museum

Address 2730-5, Kaidakogennishino, Kiso, Nagano Enquiries the Yamashita Residence Tel: 0264-44-2007 Opening periods April - November Business hours 9：00～16：30 Closed days Mondays (Tuesdays, when Monday is a national holiday) Fee Adult \400　Children \200  (including the Archeological Museum) Website   Introduction The Yamashita family’s residence was constructed in the late Edo Period and has been designated as a treasure of Nagano Prefecture, to be preserved in close to its original state. Uncommonly for mountain villages, the building features lavish decorative architecture. Preserved features such as the sunken hearth, and calligraphy in the tatami rooms, remind us of days gone by.

Mitake	Edo Imari Porcelain & Ukiyo-e Exhibition Hall (within Kanose Onsen)
Address 1-8, Mitakesetonobara, Kiso, Nagano Enquiries Kanose Onsen　Tel: 0264-46-2034 Opening periods Enquiries required Business hours   Closed days Irregular holidays Fee No charge Website   Introduction A private collection of more than 300 pieces of porcelain and displaying 20 Ukiyo-e woodblock prints at any given time.

Kiso Fukushima	Kiso Tourism & Culture Center
Address 5270-1, Fukushimauenodan, Kiso, Nagano Enquiries Tel: 0264-22-4172 Opening periods April - November Business hours 8:30～17:00 Closed days 7 days a week during the tourism season Fee No charge Website   Introduction Exhibitions introducing Kiso dance and other traditional events.

Kiso Fukushima	Kiso Local Hall
Address 5814-1, Fukushima, Kiso, Nagano Enquiries Tel: 0264-22-2239 Opening periods April - November Business hours 9:00～17:00 Closed days Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays, and during winter (enquiries required) Fee \100 Website   Introduction Exhibition on Toson Shimazaki, including a collection of his first editions.

Kiso Fukushima

Takase Museum

Address 4788, Fukushimasekimachi, Kiso, Nagano Enquiries Tel: 0264-22-2802 Opening periods All year Business hours 8:30～17:00 Closed days Irregular holidays Fee Adult \200　Children \100 Website   Introduction The great writer, Toson Shimazaki is well known for novels such as “Before the Dawn”. This is the house that his sister married into, becoming the model for the old family in his novel “House”. Documents and objects relating to Toson Shimazaki are exhibited.

Kiso Fukushima

Fukushima Checkpoint Museum

Address 4748−1, Fukushimasekimachi, Kiso, Nagano Enquiries Tel: 0264-23-2595 Opening periods All year Business hours 8:30～16:30 Closed days Tuesdays during Dec. thru Mar. (Wednesday when Tuesday is a national holiday), Year-end / New-year holidays Fee Adult \300　Children \150 Website   Introduction The Fukushima post town was established by the Edo Shogunate for the defense of the capital, Edo. It is one of Japan’s 4 major checkpoints, alongside the Hakone & Arai checkpoints on the Tokaido Road, and the Usui checkpoint, also on the Nakasendo Road. Founded 270 years ago on a hill overlooking the Kiso River, the checkpoint’s strategic placement on the Nakasendo Road allowed the Shogunate to severely restrict the influx of weaponry to the capital. Now restored as a museum, objects such as tools that narrate the town’s history are exhibited.

Kiso Fukushima

Former Yamamura Local Magistrates Residence

Address 5808-1, Fukushimaotemachi, Kiso, Nagano Enquiries Tel: 0264-22-3003 Opening periods All year Business hours 8:30～16:30 Closed days Thursdays during Dec. thru Mar. (Friday when Thursday is a national holiday), Year-end / New-year holidays Fee Adult \300　Children \150 Website   Introduction The remains of the residence that once housed generations of the Yamamura family, who were the local magistrates, along with the head of the checkpoint guard. Visitors can get a feeling for the frugal, but elegant lifestyle. Highlights include various ancestral artifacts and the garden designed in harmony with the landscape of Mt. Kisokomagatake. Within the building are exhibited replicas of sumptuous banquets, with foods that would usually have been unimaginable in such a remote mountain village. There is also a shrine to “Omassha-sama”, a minor guardian deity said to watch over Kiso.

Kiso Fukushima

Kozenji Temple Treasure Hall

Address 5659, Fukushimamonzen, Kiso, Nagano Enquiries Tel: 0264-22-2428 Opening periods   Business hours 8:30～16:30 Closed days 7 days a week (only garden in winter) Fee Adult \500　Children \300 Adult \300 in winter Website   Introduction A collection of the Yamamura family’s furniture and treasured Buddhist writings are put on public display. From April to mid-November the treasure hall and 4 gardens are open to the public. From late-November until the end of March, only 2 gardens are open.

Kiso Fukushima	Kiso Culture Gallery
Address 5052-I, Fukushimakanmachi, Kiso, Nagano Enquiries Kishiro　Tel: 0264-22-4800 Opening periods All year Business hours 10:00～18:00 Closed days Tuesdays Fee No charge Website   Introduction Located next to the “Kishiro” confectioners, the gallery can be used as a free rest area. Traditional crafts and other exhibitions are held at irregular intervals.

Hiyoshi	Yoshinaka Museum
Address 290-1, Hiyoshikanmachi, Kiso, Nagano Enquiries Tel: 0264-26-2035 Opening periods All year Business hours 9：00～17：00 Closed days Mondays (Tuesdays when Monday is a national holiday), Year-end / New-year holidays Fee Adult \300 Junior High School & younger: No charge Website   Introduction Paintings and life-size mannequins relating to the life of Yoshinaka Kiso are exhibited.

Hiyoshi	Senko Regional Museum (on the Tokuonji Temple grounds)
Address 124, Hiyoshi, Kiso, Nagano Enquiries Tel: 0264-26-2520 Opening periods   Business hours   Closed days 7 days a week Fee optional donation Website   Introduction Memorabilia relating to Yoshinaka Kiso is exhibited alongside surviving cultural assets from Miyanokoshi post town.