About Printing Museum, Tokyo
The Printing Museum is a printing museum located in the Toppan Printing Koishikawa Building in Suido, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan, which was established as part of the Toppan Printing 100th Anniversary Commemoration Project in 2000. The museum collects materials and collections related to printing culture, and you can learn more about the printing industry as well as participate in various hands-on activities on movable type printing.
On the first floor of the museum, there is a bookstore, a souvenir store, and a mini art gallery. Walking into the exhibition hall on the first basement floor, the long display wall is filled with about a hundred kinds of “prints”, ranging from the murals of the Lascaux Cave (around 15,000 B.C.) to the disks and magnetic IC cards that we use in our daily life, etc., which gives us a strong historical atmosphere, as if we have walked into the time tunnel of Doraemon, and transports us into the time of Doraemon.
It is like stepping into the time tunnel of Doraemon, taking us to the distant ancient times, and making people wonder how many more unexpected printed materials will appear in the future. The museum also has a collection of copper movable type made by Tokugawa Ieyasu when he lived in Suruga, which has now been recognized as an important cultural property.
Near the exit of the exhibition hall, there is a “Printing House” with a glass room, where creative activities and research meetings on movable type printing with the theme of “do-it-yourself” are often held. Visitors can experience the fun of picking up characters, typesetting, printing, and making their own prints, which is not only meaningful, but also practical in that the finished products are mostly items that can be used in everyday life.
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If you have a discount coupon, you can make a reservation and purchase tickets online at a discount price.
How to get there
(1)Approximately 8 minutes on foot from Edogawabashi Station on the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line
(2)Approximately 13 minutes on foot from “Iidabashi Station” of JR Sobu Line, Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line, Tozai Line, Namboku Line, and Toei Oedo Line
(3)Approximately 10 minutes on foot from Korakuen Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line and Namboku Line
Tips
Open: 10:00-18:00, admission until 17:30
Closed: Mondays (or the following day if Monday is a national holiday), year-end and New Year holidays, exhibition change periods
Visitors can learn about the history of printing. You can also learn about the world’s printing technology, such as Gutenberg’s printing press in Europe and printing in Korea. You can also learn about various prewar and postwar publications. I thought the exhibit of prewar national textbooks was interesting.
Website
https://www.printing-museum.org/
