It's a nice exhibit and I got lucky enough to meet a woman that worked on designing it. It's free to enter.

Small free museum inside the library on the ground floor. Nothing was in English but Google translate images did wonders!

It's at the back of the 1st floor of Chuo Ward's library, "Hon no Mori Chuo." It's a local history museum, but unlike in other wards it isn't built like a typical museum; it has an open, bright atmosphere. Admission is free. A map of Chuo Ward is drawn on the floor inside, and the walls are lined with videos, exhibits, and written explanations. The design is very visually focused, and the written explanations aren't very long—just short sentences lined up in strip-like spaces for each theme. It's a very novel style and feels approachable. Even just dropping by and taking a quick look would be enjoyable. That said, Chuo Ward has famous spots that could be called the face of Tokyo, like the Edo-period fish market (Nihonbashi) and modern-era Ginza, so I felt it might have been nice to have somewhat more detailed explanations and photos. I guess the idea is that people like that should look through past materials in the separate archive room and such.

+3

Displays relics from various eras, from ancient mammoth-related items to Edo-period shitamachi and education in the early modern era. The panels are easy to understand, and it hosts valuable historical exhibits. The special exhibitions are recommended too.

+3

A beautiful archive museum It makes good use of digital technology and feels very modern. It's free. Impressions It feels a bit too reliant on digital. Supplementing everything across the board with digital is fine, but it would be better to have exhibits offering experiences you can only get on-site. This is a town where the most cutting-edge developments of each era always happened, like the gas lamps we learned about in school, so why not put that front and center in the exhibits! The special exhibitions are also mostly displays, so you're satisfied after one visit. Since Chuo Ward is the center of Tokyo, wouldn't it be nice to have exhibits that focus more on Showa and Heisei, and on the companies that supported the economy? It feels too focused on Edo and Meiji.

+3