The Japanese Rural Toy Museum, founded in 1967, is hidden behind a bunch of old warehouses in the back alleys of Kurashiki. Hundreds of handmade and antique toys from different parts of Japan are displayed in four rooms of a converted rice storehouse, including over 200 kites plus bells and whistles, miniature floats, antique Japanese dolls and masks, traditional Kurashiki Hariko (hand-painted papier-mache figurines), and spinning tops. The museum’s owner Ohga Hiroyuki is actually in the Guinness World Book of Records for spinning a giant top for 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 57 seconds in 1983. Unfortunately, the record has since been broken by someone else, using a custom-made top Ohga had designed. But if you ask, he will do a little demonstration for you. Of course not for over an hour. You can also purchase a toy of your own in the attached shop, which sells regional toys, crafts and artwork.
Japanese Rural Toy Museum Kurashiki, Japan
