I visited around 3 PM on a weekend. There weren't many people, so I could take my time looking around, which was nice! The special exhibition had a display of cute local folk toys that was so soothing🌱 In the permanent exhibition, I could learn about Kawachi cotton and the local area. On the 2nd floor, you can see how toothbrushes are made, how swords are made, and more, which made it even more fun.

Due to personal reasons, this is the only shot I took. I'll introduce this museum with this one photo. This is a topographic map and artifacts from the Jomon period, about 5,500 years ago. At that time the earth was warm and sea levels were higher than today (the Jomon marine transgression). Kawachi Bay reached right up to the edge of the Ikoma Mountains, which formed along a fault line. And along that coast, people were already living their lives. Those artifacts are on display. It's natural to imagine people back then traveling along the straight coastline following the fault. That's today's old National Route 170, in other words the Higashi-Kōya Kaidō. Along this Higashi-Kōya Kaidō, from the north, ancient shrines stand in a row: Iwashimizu Hachimangū, Hiraoka Shrine, and Tamaoya Shrine. Anyway, exhibits like this are laid out compactly. If you're ever nearby, please drop in🤗.

I visited after seeing a newspaper article saying there was a special exhibition on local folk toys. It's about a 10-minute walk north from Hattorigawa Station on the Kintetsu Shigi Line. At the western foothills of the Ikoma mountain range, Katano, Neyagawa, Shijōnawate, Daitō, and Yao have many traces of human habitation since ancient times, and each city has its own history museum. Some excavated items are distinctive, like horses in Shijōnawate, but to an amateur they all look about the same. What's unique to Yao and not in other cities' exhibits is probably the early-modern cotton and toothbrushes. Last but not least, admission is 220円.

A museum located at the foot of a mountain. It blends seamlessly into the tranquil landscape, making for a beautiful location. The exhibits showcase the history of Yao from ancient times, arranged chronologically, allowing visitors to enjoy the changes over time. There are also interesting exhibits on cotton, a former specialty product, and the toothbrush manufacturing industry that flourished after cotton production.

It was a small, modest museum, but it had exhibits related to Yao, and I'm glad I visited once.

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