Walk, see, hear, and taste. Experience the history and charm of Odawara with all your senses!

Go, see, and experience the world of art
File.27 Odawara City Street Corner Museum
Miyuki Inoue (Magcal Editorial Department)

Odawara, which developed as a castle town, has been a transportation hub since the Edo period, where various people, goods, and cultures have come and gone. It's a town where amazing things abound, like when you're casually walking around and suddenly come across a building that looks like a cultural heritage site, and what's more, it's actually "open for business" as if it were perfectly normal.
A "street corner museum" is a place where you can walk around and experience historical treasures that can't be contained within glass cases. I took a leisurely stroll around with a guidebook published by Odawara City in hand.

First, head to Chinri-u Main Store, "Odawara Station Front Umeboshi Museum," which is a 3-minute walk from the east exit of Odawara Station.
This specialty shop for pickled plums originated from the restaurant "Chinryutei," which opened in Odawara City in 1871. Later, coinciding with the opening of Odawara Station, the shop relocated to the area in front of the station and was renamed "Chinriu Main Store."

In the back of the shop sits a pickle barrel used in the early Meiji period and a cash register from the 1900s. Just seeing them gives you a sense of the weight of history.

The most impressive sight is the vast collection of pickled plums. It's astonishing that the oldest one dates back to 1834 (Tenpo 5). I'd love to find a "birth year pickled plum" from the year I was born.

A "pickled plum quiz" was prepared as a small event, so I decided to give it a try.
The quiz involves trying to guess how pickled plums are made and how their taste changes over time by smelling and tasting them, but it's surprisingly difficult. Apparently, one lucky participant each month will win a prize, so be sure to give it a try.

Chinri Main Store (Odawara Station Front Umeboshi Museum)
[Address] 1-2-1 Sakaemachi, Odawara City
[TEL] 0120-30-4951
[Opening Hours] 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
[Closed] January 1st
* Click here for the official website!

Next up is Wagami Chaho in Ejima .
The founder started his business in Odawara in 1661. Initially, he ran a salt production business by the sea. In response to the demands of the times, he began handling washi (Japanese paper), and it is said that tea became his main product after he brought back specialty teas from Suruga and Tōtōmi, places he visited as a paper peddler.
The current building is a reconstruction by the 15th generation Heihachi Ejima of the family business, which was destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake. The "dashigeta-zukuri" style, with its overhanging eaves, is said to be a tradition of merchant houses in Odawara.

While the shop's interior has been renovated for earthquake resistance, the museum area is well worth seeing. On display are items such as a deerskin happi coat made to commemorate the recovery from the earthquake and the completion of the building, as well as a tea kettle cherished by Masuda Don'ō, who was also famous as a tea master.

While their main product is tea, the Wako corner features washi paper sourced from all over Japan, making it a pleasure just to browse.

Ejima (Yamato Paper Tea Shop)
[Address] 2-13-7 Sakaemachi, Odawara City
[TEL] 0465-22-1611
[Opening Hours] 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
[Closed] Wednesday

At lunchtime, we went to the Daruma restaurant , "The Museum of Noren and Flavors."
Founded in 1893 (Meiji 26), the original store was destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake, but it was later rebuilt using the abundant funds earned from a large catch of yellowtail. The building, with its distinctive curved gable roof and hipped roof, is designated as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property.

The dining hall on the first floor can be used casually without a reservation, so you can "appreciate" the building while having a meal. The building, which was handcrafted by first-class craftsmen using high-quality domestic cypress, pine, and zelkova wood sourced from local lumberyards, is like a work of art from wall to ceiling.

While many people mention "aji sushi" (horse mackerel sushi) as the signature dish of Daruma Restaurant, the "tendon" (tempura rice bowl), which has been on the menu since the restaurant's founding, is also highly recommended. The tempura dipping sauce, a closely guarded family recipe, has been continuously replenished to maintain its flavor, making it a truly exceptional dish befitting a long-established restaurant.

One of the rooms, which is open to the public as a "street corner museum," can be viewed by asking the staff. It has a stylish atmosphere that is quite different from the typical diner setting, and it is still used as a reception room for meetings and other purposes.

The exhibition includes photographs of legendary scenes of yellowtail being unloaded, as well as a brazier used by the writer Chotaro Kawasaki.

Daruma Restaurant: A Museum of Noren Curtains and Flavors
[Address] 2-1-30 Honcho, Odawara City
[TEL] 0465-22-4128
[Opening Hours] 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
[Closed] January 1st - 3rd
* Click here for the official website!

The Ishikawa Lacquerware "Lacquerware and Tableware Gallery" offers a chance to experience Odawara lacquerware, which originated in the Muromachi period.
The Ishikawa family, who served as spear lacquerers for the Odawara domain since the Edo period, founded their workshop in 1887. They are committed to using domestically sourced materials and handle everything from woodworking to lacquering in-house.

The shop also displays spears and tools that remain from the owner's time as a spear painter for the Okubo clan.
The store's exterior has been transformed into a modern building, but the interior seems to still be steeped in its long history.

Because lacquerware is made from natural materials, it can get damaged with use. However, Odawara lacquerware can be repainted multiple times, so please consult with the staff at the store about maintaining your precious pieces.

Ishikawa Lacquerware (Lacquerware and Tableware Gallery)
[Address] 1-19-16-102 Sakae-cho, Odawara City
[TEL] 0465-22-5414
[Opening Hours] 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
[Closed] Wednesday
* Click here for the official website!

Speaking of pottery, I'd also like to check out Matsuzakiya Pottery Shop's "Tosai Gallery."
From the outside, it looks like a perfectly ordinary pottery shop, but as a long-established business founded in 1887, the "product inventory" collected by successive owners is truly extraordinary.

Upstairs, you'll find a dazzling array of ceramics and glassware from all over Japan. Mixed in with the samples for business negotiations are the "goods" that the previous and previous generations of the family acquired but kept instead of selling. Many of these are now hard-to-find masterpieces, making it a feast for the eyes.

This is a lidded teacup made using the "Kutani brush calligraphy technique." The inside is densely covered with characters, utilizing a highly advanced technique that is now considered difficult to reproduce.
Incidentally, since these are "products," most of them can be purchased if you want them. However, the prices... there are so many zeros that it's impossible to tell how much they cost just by looking at them.

Glassware by Kozo Kagami, also held in the collection of the National Museum of Modern Art.
I once saw a replica on a TV appraisal show, and I remember it still being quite expensive. This is the original. It must have been purchased as a collector's item using a professional network and procurement routes. The merchants of Odawara are truly formidable!

Matsuzakiya Pottery Shop "Ceramic Gallery"
[Address] 3-1-44 Hamacho, Odawara City
[TEL] 0465-24-2479
[Opening Hours] 10:00 AM - 6:30 PM *Shop hours until 7:00 PM
[Closed] Sundays
* Click here for the official website!

Finally, we visited the Kashiwagi Art Casting Research Institute's "Sahari Gallery Narimonokan," a workshop that carries on the tradition of cast metal products dating back to the Muromachi period.
During the Edo period, Odawara was the largest foundry in the Kanto region, home to around 100 craftsmen. As demand for pots and pans declined, the number of foundry workers steadily decreased, but this area has created new value by specializing in "musical instruments."

The "Sahari" in the museum's name refers to a type of bronze, an alloy of copper and tin that has been used as a material for sound-making instruments since ancient times. The Kashiwagi Art Foundry Research Institute manufactures and sells musical instruments that produce a more beautiful and long-lasting resonance by carefully considering the alloy composition and shape.
For example, there's the "orin," one of the Buddhist ritual implements. I've lived a life that hasn't had much to do with Buddhist altars until now, but being surrounded by such a beautiful sound made me think that it wouldn't be so bad to pray to my ancestors every day.

Speaking of musical instruments, we can't forget wind chimes. Odawara cast iron products suddenly gained prominence when these wind chimes were featured in Akira Kurosawa's film "Red Beard."
At the workshop, you can purchase your favorite wind chime and paper strip together, making them perfect souvenirs. When you actually ring them, you'll find that each one has a different sound, so you might have trouble deciding whether to choose by sound or design.

Kashiwagi Art Casting Research Institute (Sahari Gallery Narimonokan)
[Address] 3-1-22 Nakamachi, Odawara City
[TEL] 0465-22-4328
[Opening Hours] 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
[Closed] 2nd, 4th, and 5th Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays
* Click here for the official website!

Stone pillars marking the old town names and their origins stand here and there on the streets of Odawara. I'd love to take a leisurely stroll through the town's history, imagining its bustling past.

In Odawara, there are many other street-corner museums open to the public. Since they are all run by volunteers at each facility, please remember to be respectful of the rules of etiquette when visiting.