05-05-2025
The Showa Era Lifestyle Museum: Travel back in time
By James Rogers
The Showa Era Lifestyle Museum opened in 1990 in Kita Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. It features a large collection (over 160,000 items) of Showa era (1926-1989) items, from cars to televisions to full storefront replicas. The focus of the museum is to show what life was like during this period for a typical Japanese person. Despite the Showa era spanning a considerable amount of time, the era is mostly associated with the mid-20th century and thus most of the items in the museum are from this period. The museum has over 40,000 visitors per year.
The museum has multiple floors, and its basement is full of many valuable classic cars and motorcycles. On its main floor, there are multiple full-room replicas, including living rooms, kitchens, a bicycle repair storefront, a candy store and many others. Nearly all of the items in the museum are donations.
Occasionally, the museum also has special exhibitions. One previous exhibition that was quite unique featured Showa era items, such as radios, clocks, etc., opened up to reveal their inner workings. Until May 31, the museum's special exhibition will focus on items from the 1980s.
The museum's creator, Yoshinori Ichihashi, showed great insight in establishing it in 1990. He realized early on that people who grew up or raised children during the Showa era would eventually feel nostalgic about the period. He has even published a book about the era.
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