🗺️ Osaka Living History Museum大阪市立住まいのミュージアム 大阪くらしの今昔館

The Osaka Living History Museum opened in April 2001 and is Japan's first museum themed around "the history and culture of living." It provides insights into the changes in housing and the lifestyles of ordinary people in Osaka from the Edo period through the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras. The 8th-floor exhibition area is themed "Modern Osaka Panorama Tour." Through three-dimensional perspective models and images, it introduces modern Osaka from the Meiji era to the Showa era. Visitors can not only learn about the architecture of the time but also understand the lifestyle, culture, and customs during the "Great Osaka" era, when it briefly surpassed Tokyo to become Japan's largest city, influenced by the civilization and enlightenment movement during the Meiji Restoration. A highlight is the "Living Theater," where visitors can watch a performance titled "That Day, That House, A Family's Moving Story" presented through images, models, and narration. The story follows a family that was born and grew up in Osaka's Kōbō shopping street, showcasing their continuous changes over time. The 9th-floor exhibition area is themed "The Seasonal Chronicles of Naniwa Town Houses." It recreates the streetscape of the early 1830s Edo period at actual size. Visitors can stroll along streets lined with bathhouses, kimono shops, bookstores, and pharmacies, and even enter the shops to touch the exhibits, offering an immersive experience of that era. Additionally, the museum's planning room regularly hosts various special exhibitions related to "Osaka Home Life."

You can understand the trajectory of how Osaka's residential and lifestyle styles have changed over time. The exhibition faithfully and intricately reproduces the residences of Osaka during the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa periods through images and three-dimensional perspective models. In addition to the permanent exhibition, special exhibitions are held regularly. The theme of the 9th-floor exhibition area is "The Seasonal Chronicles of Naniwa Town Houses," which recreates the streetscape of Edo-period Osaka at actual size.