A museum exhibiting two themes: local history materials tracing the footsteps of people who have lived in the city area from the distant Paleolithic era to the present, and the people involved in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. "Freedom and People's Rights Movement" is a term everyone learns in school, but now that I'm middle-aged, my memory of it had become completely hazy. Apparently it was the first event in Japan where the awareness that "the people participate in politics" took root nationwide, and the fact that this movement led to the establishment of a parliament, albeit a limited one, and the enactment of a constitution was an important step leading to later Japanese democracy (such as Taisho Democracy)— so they say. Maybe because the area was part of Kanagawa Prefecture at the time and foreign ideas spread quickly from Yokohama, it seems many people took part in the movement. I thought you'd enjoy this theme more if you study up before and review after your visit. Admission is free.

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34 The summer high school baseball game at Sagamihara Stadium was rained out, so I went here. (My route was Sagamihara → Inochi no Hakubutsukan → motsu-ni Maboroshi → here) Since it's run by Machida City, I went in thinking, "They probably can't do exhibits that push political views,, no wait, at the Aichi Triennale they used tax money to burn photos of the Emperor and tax money went to hard-left activism, so maybe Machida has exhibits pushing political views too? In Suginami Ward, leftists and the Kakumaru-ha have long been getting elected, so political messages in ward exhibits are possible, but,," You change into slippers to go in. In the end, the content was textbook-level stuff like the Freedom and People's Rights Movement and how the Diet came to be established, and there didn't seem to be any particular political messaging, but photography was prohibited, so I figured either there was something I missed, or it's to avoid getting bashed by someone. Personally, more than the history of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, what was really great was that they had the answer to "Why is Machida City part of Tokyo when, looking at a map, it obviously should be Kanagawa?" Apparently, "Because Tokyo manages the Tamagawa Aqueduct, Tama City and Machida City were incorporated into Tokyo." True, Tama City doesn't feel like Tokyo either… and on top of that, Yokohama City outside of Sakuragicho, Minato Mirai, and Chinatown is in a 'somewhere that calls itself Yokohama' state, so it was nice to get a look at the land's various histories. The library corner had files on the origins of place names in Machida City, so I think people from Machida would enjoy it, and I'd like them to go once. As a high school baseball fan, I let my imagination run while looking at the maps, like, shouldn't Nichidai Sanko practically just count as Kanagawa? or, given their locations, couldn't Tokai Univ. Sagami and Toko Gakuen just barely pick either Tokyo or Kanagawa? Also, there's a parking lot

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2024.1 【Admission】Free 【Parking】12 spaces on site A museum built on the site of "Ryosokan", a dojo for literary and martial arts built by Murano Tsuneemon in Meiji 16. The Tama region, including Machida and Hachioji, was a place where the Freedom and People's Rights Movement—pushing for the opening of the Diet and the enactment of a constitution—was very active. I felt it would be hard to learn about the Freedom and People's Rights Movement from scratch here without studying beforehand. If anything, the main exhibits introduce the people involved in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. The exhibition rooms are broadly divided into two: one with exhibits on the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, the other on the history of Machida City. The Machida City history exhibit space is small too: ancient times through the Edo period are in a room of about 6 tatami mats, and Machida from the Meiji era onward is introduced in an exhibit space of about 8 tatami mats. Besides the exhibition rooms, there's a book corner and a rest corner.

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A new exhibit explaining the flow of Machida City's history has been added. Machida City itself didn't have a history museum guiding you from the Paleolithic era to the present, so I think this is meant to fill that gap. The freedom and people's rights exhibit seems to have been renewed too. It's a really good facility for learning about Machida's Meiji-era history. Around here there were families who got rich from the raw silk trade, and apparently they were the ones who actively studied people's rights and so on. There's also an explanation of Tama being transferred from Kanagawa, which is educational. Tama was a troublesome area for Kanagawa because the movement was so active, plus there were Tokyo's water resources, so I guess that's why it got transferred to Tokyo. ★Nearby there's also the Kojima Museum related to the Shinsengumi, so please stop by there too. The Kojima family were sworn brothers with Kondo Isami and gave financial support back when the Shinsengumi weren't getting anywhere. If I remember right, a letter from Kondo saying "Lend me some money!" is on public display.★

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I visited this museum I'd been curious about for a while. The parking lot only fits about six cars, but you can park no problem. You'll learn a lot about the freedom and people's rights movement in Machida. I'd like to know more about Showa-era history too. That part is a bit lacking,,