The Kigumi Museum was an excellent display of traditional Japanese woodworking and joinery. It is a small museum with only two rooms, but it was very cool to see the building techniques behind the construction of Japan's temples and shrines. Being able to take apart and manipulate the joinery really makes you appreciate the precision and craftsmanship on display. The owner/curator is very friendly and has 40 years of construction experience. He has made it his goal to preserve and display the art of Japanese woodworking.

+3

This museum is a can’t miss if you are interested in building or in 3D puzzles. Japanese carpentry used few nails, so there are several ways to create stable joints without them. You can try out all of them yourself in this hands on museum.

+1

A must visit museum for anyone interested in Japanese architecture or joinery. Mr. Tanikawa was very kind and has made exceptional exhibitions. Lots of handmade joinery examples and replicas, most of which encourage visitors to touch and interact with the wood.

This was a great little museum -- perfect for a 30 to 60 minute visit. The curator is an expert carpenter with 40 years of experience and kindly explained a lot of the exhibit to us despite his limited English skills. I learned a lot about traditional Japanese joinery and woodworking, and especially enjoyed being able to pull apart / put together the various models!

As a amateur hand tool woodworker from Oregon US, the Kigumi Museum was most fascinating! I highly recommend visiting and taking time to look through the exhibits. I purchased the directors book even though it was in Japanese so I will use Google Translate to read it.