Tobacco & Salt Museum
The Peaceful Atmosphere of Sumida Ward
The Tobacco and Salt Museum is a small private museum in the heart of Sumida ward, in the east of Tokyo. Fun and diverse exhibitions are staged to introduce the history and cultures developed from the trades of salt and tobacco in Japan and in the world.
The Tobacco & Salt Museum is a company museum located in Sumida ward since April 2015. It was initially founded in 1978 in Shibuya ward by the Japanese Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation (日本専売公社 Nippon Senbai kôsha), now a private company named Japan Tobacco Inc. (日本たばこ産業株式会社 Nihon Tabako Sangyô Kabushiki gaisha) or JT.
The 5-story building that is now home to the museum is a former warehouse of the company, that was refurbished to display its collections in a more modern setting, in the north of Oyokogawa Park urban walk and near Oshiage and the Tokyo SkyTree.
Historical monopolies
The trade of tobacco and salt were state monopolies in Japan for a long time, the first providing an appreciable financial income and the latter being a staple ingredient of human diet. Therefore, they each have a permanent exhibition area:
- At the 2nd floor, The World of Salt shows the various ways of salt-mining process in Japan and in the world, the element’s chemical properties and the various shapes it can be found in.
- At the 3rd floor, History and Culture of Tobacco is dedicated to the history of tobacco since its discovery along America’s, its introduction in Japan and the beginning of its cultivation there in the 17th century. The exhibition is enlivened by the reconstitution of a Japanese tobacco shop, displays of utensils related to tobacco, advertisements and illustrations for the product.
Most of the explanations are in Japanese, and sometimes in English but the expositions are accessible to everyone as they focus on visual aspects for understanting, sometimes spectacular, such as a partial reconstitution of a Maya temple.
Tobacco and salt as basis for cultural open-mindedness
About 38,000 objects related to tobacco and salt are exhibited at the museum, including artworks (sculptures, ukiyo-e prints) and a vast array of documents and original books.
Temporary exhibitions are also held in a dedicated hall at the 2nd floor, and the discovery of the 2 products becomes an occasion to foster the visitors’ curiosity on broader cultural topics, without straying from the tobacco and salt industries and their influence on the history, the culture, the society and the arts in Japan and in the world. Exhibitions themed on the old Edo and traditional Japanese culture are quite popular.
The museum is designed to make the visit easier with escalators and elevators to move between the floors, coin-lockers at the 4th floor and a lounge at the 5th floor. Furthermore, there are 2 smoking rooms in tune with the museum’s theme and abiding to the recent rules of separating smoking areas in Japan. Lastly, taking picture is allowed throughout the museum.
The Tobacco and Salt Museum is a pleasant place without much visitors close to the Tokyo SkyTree, Jukken Bridge, and also to the historical district of Ryogoku. It offers a quiet visit that can be extended to Oyokogawa Park, an urban promenade along the waterways of Sumida ward, and southward walking to Kiba park and its Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in Koto ward.