Open-Air Museum of Old Japanese Farmhouses

Osaka


Easier than a trip to the countryside is a visit to this collection of traditional Japanese country houses, transported here and painstakingly reconstructed. Most striking is the giant gasshō-zukuri (steeply slanting thatched-roof) farmhouse from Gifu Prefecture, and a thatched-wall farmhouse from Nagano, which looks to be wearing a shaggy coat. Many of the houses, which you can enter, have displays inside on traditional rural life. The whole place comes alive with fiery red maple leaves during November.

The 14th-century teahouse here holds a tea ceremony on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. Take the Kita-Osaka Kyūko line (an extension north from the Midō-suji subway line; ¥90 surcharge) to Ryokuchi-kōen Station. From the west exit, go straight (past McDonald's), follow the road down to Hattori Ryokuchi Park (服部緑地公園), and walk through the park to the museum.

Transportation

  • train: Kita-Osaka Kyūko line to Ryokuchi-kōen, west exit

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Osaka attractions

1. Tower of the Sun

3.23 MILES

The 70m-tall Tower of the Sun was created by Japanese artist Okamoto Tarō for Osaka's Expo '70. While the curious three-faced creature (there's one face…

2. Redhorse Osaka Ferris Wheel

3.25 MILES

Japan's tallest Ferris wheel (123m), and the fifth tallest in the world, opened in 2016 and offers sweeping views over Expo Park and the Tower of the Sun…

3. National Museum of Ethnology

3.27 MILES

This ambitious museum showcases the world's cultures, presenting them as the continuous (and tangled) strings that they are. There are plenty of…

4. Momofuku Andō Instant Ramen Museum

4.44 MILES

From its humble invention in 1958 by Andō Momofuku (1910–2007; later chair of Nissin Foods), instant rāmen has become a global business and one of Japan's…

5. Osaka Museum of Housing & Living

4.97 MILES

Two subway stops from Umeda, this museum contains a life-sized reproduction of an 1830s Osaka neighbourhood with shophouses, drug stores, an old-style…

6. Umeda Sky Building

5.09 MILES

Osaka's landmark Sky Building (1993) resembles a 40-storey, space-age Arc de Triomphe. Twin towers are connected at the top by a 'floating garden' (really…

7. Tenjinbashi-suji Shōtengai

5.5 MILES

Japan's largest covered shopping arcade, which began as a wet market during the Edo period (1604–1868), stretches 2.6km over six blocks. The majority of…

8. O-hatsu Ten-jin

5.55 MILES

Hiding in plain sight amid the skyscrapers of Umeda, this 1300-year-old shrine owes its fame to one of Japan's best-known tragic plays (based on true…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "japan/kansai/osaka/attractions/open-air-museum-of-old-japanese-farmhouses/a/poi-sig/423381/356704",
      "destination": "Osaka",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "Japan",
      "city": "Osaka",
      "position": "superzone"
    }