I'm interested in Japanese merchant history, so I visited. It's about 10 minutes from Kawachi-Kosaka Station, with good access. The charming building housing the "Museum of Commercial History" (Tanioka Memorial Hall) turned out to be a historic modernist building completed in Showa 10 (1935). The route through the "Museum of Commercial History" starts near the reception on the 1st floor. The inside of the building is lovely too, so it's worth seeing along with the exhibits! When I stepped outside, there was a statue of Ninomiya Kinjiro. Since you don't see them as often as you used to, it felt nostalgic.

It's inside a historic building on a university campus. It explains why Osaka prospered through commerce. Coming from Fukuoka, I expected a cramped exhibition room, but on the 3rd floor I could learn about rice farming, folk tools, and cotton in the Kawachi area while looking at equipment that was actually used. Or rather, I was really impressed by the historic facilities of this building. Also, on the 1st floor there's the Amusement Industry Research Institute, which, to put it bluntly, displays various forms of gambling (lol)

On the 1st floor of Tanioka Memorial Hall is the exhibition room of the Amusement Industry Research Institute, and on the 2nd floor is the exhibition room of the Museum of Commercial History. The Amusement Industry Research Institute's room displays many valuable materials on games such as go, shogi, playing cards, mahjong, sugoroku, and backgammon, which was very interesting, but it was a shame that photography was prohibited. So most of my photos are from the Museum of Commercial History. As for books, there were individual research books and exhibition catalogs, but unfortunately there was no comprehensive book summarizing the permanent exhibition. I'd love for them to make one. The 2nd floor, the Museum of Commercial History, displays materials on the city and commerce of Osaka, which was called "the Nation's Kitchen" in the Edo period. You can also see items that were actually used, such as ship chests (funa-dansu), money changers' scales, and counting desks (choba-zukue). To repeat, precisely because the exhibits were good, it was a shame about the photography ban and not finding a book I liked.

I saw "A Must-See! Janken! Great Discoveries! – The World of Hand Games," held at the "Osaka University of Commerce Amusement Industry Research Institute Exhibition Room," which has moved into Tanioka Memorial Hall, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property. As you'd expect of a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, the atmosphere of the old Western-style architecture is overwhelming. It's worth visiting just to soak in this atmosphere. The exhibition occupies two connected classrooms, so it can't be called spacious, but nearly 250 items are packed tightly into the limited space, making it well worth seeing. The accompanying explanations were also interesting, and I was impressed — just what you'd expect from a university research institute. Since it's a facility inside a university, it's closed on Sundays and public holidays, and the opening hours are short, from 10 to 4:30 p.m., but above all it's free, and being able to see this many materials is greatly appreciated. They have also held exhibitions on various themes such as shogi, go, karuta, sugoroku, mahjong, and traditional games of the world. If you love games and live nearby, I recommend visiting at least once.

A prewar building with substantial exhibits. Registered Tangible Cultural Property.