The hall houses several tens of thousands of items, including objects excavated from
city ruins like Chiamigaito; the 5 Kanto-tachi swords of the tumulus period, designated an
important cultural asset by the city; folk tools and utensils; hand drawn wagons; sleighs;
a wealth of items retrieved from a private home sinking near the Kiryuu River Dam, the
Japan Textile Company, and the 618 sawdust roofed factories and 82 western-style buildings
remaining in the city; a textile collection mostly consisting of family crests; and
mechanical dolls.
760 toys - clay figures, wooden 'kokeshi' dolls, tops, paper cut-outs, and a variety of
bamboo, ceramic and wooden objects - as well as 353 cameras spanning a 40-year period from
Meiji to Show, come from the Kawarai collection.
The Chiamigaito ruins, estimated to be about 20,000 square meters, are located on a
riverbank in Kawauchi-cho 3-chome at the confluence of the Watarase and Yamada rivers.
Here you can see traces of the lives of people from the Jomon to Heian periods. Large ear
ornaments, 9.6cm in diameter, have been excavated, some carved pieces of openwork at least
1cm thick and others simply baked and colored with red pigment. A 16.5cm clay horned owl
was also uncovered from the surrounding area.
The 3297 items excavated from the No. 1 and No. 4 dwellings were designated important
national cultural assets in 1984. As there is no suitable exhibition space available in
the city, the artifacts have been temporarily loaned to the Prefectural History Museum.
Opened in August, 1985, the hall holds four exhibits accompanied by lectures each year.
Hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays. Open national holidays, closed the
following day. |
