This is a local archive museum where you can learn about the history of Nishitokyo City and more. It reuses a closed-down elementary school, so it has a very nostalgic atmosphere. When I went, there were two elderly men, probably retired city employees, acting as caretakers, and maybe because I'd brought my sons, one in elementary school and one in nursery school, they explained all sorts of things to us. Five classrooms are used as exhibition rooms: the first two are about the Shitanoya Site, and the remaining three cover the history of Nishitokyo City. There were household goods, school supplies, farm tools and so on from the old days, many of which the kids had never seen, so they looked at them with great curiosity. There were also lots of photos of Tokyo children from long ago, and I enjoyed looking at them with a sense of nostalgia too. On the way out I chatted with the caretakers I mentioned, and when I said we'd come from Chuo Ward they were very surprised, thanked us for coming all that way, and gave the kids souvenirs like stickers. Thank you very much.

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It's located inside a building that was once used as a school and is now the Nishitokyo City Nishihara General Education Facility. You change into slippers at the shoe lockers before going in. As for the exhibits, some were made in collaboration with elementary school kids and others, and combined with the fact that it uses a closed-down school, it has a handmade, approachable feel that other museums don't have. Still, in terms of quantity and quality, the exhibits are very substantial. A wide variety of physical materials from ancient times to the present are on display, but personally I was surprised by how rich the folk culture exhibits were. Also, the displays such as the diorama of the first Museum of Ethnology, which once existed within what is now Nishitokyo City, are worth noting. It was also nice that the office staff kindly introduced and guided me on routes to nearby museums and historic sites.

The exhibits on life in the Jomon period were pretty interesting. I could understand it for the Yayoi period, but I was surprised that there was fashion like clothes and hair ornaments as far back as the Jomon period. There are 5 exhibition rooms in total, but mostly they cover things like life in the Showa era, old townscapes, and that sort of thing. Since the facility reuses a closed-down school, in the late afternoon the classrooms are lit by the setting sun, giving it a nostalgic atmosphere.

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When Tanashi City and Hoya City merged to become Nishitokyo City, Keyaki Elementary School was closed due to consolidation and became the Nishitokyo City Nishihara General Education Facility. The Local History Materials Room is on its 2nd floor. Rooms that used to be classrooms have been turned into exhibition rooms, 5 in total. Rooms 1–2 display materials from the former Hoya City, and rooms 3–5 display materials from the former Tanashi City. Each room feels like a handmade exhibition space, showing Nishitokyo City's archaeological and folk materials, starting with Paleolithic stone tools, Jomon pottery, and itabi (stone memorial tablets) from the Kamakura and Muromachi periods.

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If I remember right, the curator here was very kind and I got to hear all sorts of stories. The exhibits cover a wide range, truly a local history collection, with stone tools, Jomon pottery, old household goods, Showa-era appliances, and many other materials, each with handmade explanations. There are handmade diorama displays tracing the area's major events through the eras, along with displays of real related objects like tools, so there's a lot to see. Because there are so many real objects on display and the explanations are so thorough, it's too much to see everything if you just drop by casually to kill a few dozen minutes. Maybe it just happened to be on display at the time, but the exhibit about the Museum of Ethnology was quite interesting and enjoyable as reading material too. Looking at the photos made me want to visit again. ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ The review I thought I'd posted before wasn't there, and the photo links seemed to be broken too, so I've reposted it.

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