Taito City has a thriving local leather footwear industry centered on northern Asakusa, and in particular it's said to rank No. 1 in the country for leather shoe production. Walking along Yoshino-dori (Sanya-dori) toward Asakusa Station, on both sides of the street you can spot small factories of the local leather footwear industry using tanned leather, and signboards for things like "Swedish steel cutting dies." The Leather Industry Museum in Hashiba along the Sumida River displays the history of the leather footwear industry. Just when you think there's Chinese foot-binding, KONISHIKI's huge shoes turn out to be on display too. It's on an upper floor of the "Industrial Training Center" right near the OK Store. The website says "You can view it anytime except on days the Industrial Training Center is closed," but it seems to close during COVID states of emergency.

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Inside the building there's a Leather Industry Museum. The exhibits mainly date from the Edo period to the Showa era, and there seems to be nothing from Heisei onward. Compared to when I came nearly 10 years ago, it seemed brighter and better organized. To see the museum, you fill out a visitor card at reception and ask them to unlock the materials room and let you in. It used to be done by signing a guest book, and I remember that the guest book—a ruled notebook—had been in use since around the start of Heisei. There probably aren't that many visitors. It was a shame that photography wasn't allowed inside the materials room.

I went to the once-a-year facility open house. (Through 2019/10/18–20.) Next to the OK Store in Hashiba, you can buy handmade items cheaper than usual at the workshops and the individual ateliers. There were leather wallets and shoes for about half of department store prices, and a pair of shoes I casually tried on fit my feet perfectly, so I bought leather short boots for 5,000 yen. The shop was cash only. On the way out I answered a survey and got a triangular leather coin case, which made me happy all over again. I'd like to come again next year.

The exhibits at the Leather Industry Museum are all valuable. There was everything from prewar and wartime items to the spikes of stolen-base king Fukumoto Yutaka. It's also an essential place for learning about local history.

Konishiki's shoes, Oh's and Nagashima's spikes, and more are on display.