Tobacco and Salt Museum

The Tobacco and Salt Museum might seem a bit of a quirky museum to outsiders but to the Japannese both of these products have been very important in Japanese culture and trade for centuries. This museum traces the history and the importance of both tobacco and salt and its relationship with man.

The museum is easily accessed and is walking distance from Shibuya Station you will see it across the road from the famous Tabu Hotel at Jinnan 1-1 6-8, Shibuya-Ku. The museum is usually closed Mondays and has a small admission fee.

The Tobacco and Salt Museum is made up of three floors, The first floor is dedicated to tobacco, explaining its spread from its South American beginings to all corners of the world. There are some interesting exhibitions on how Tobacco has become a major player in Japanese lives and culture. There are a large collection of implements, and tobbaco products including a huge array of cigarette packets from all around the world.

Floor two also deals with tobacco but is more its affects on Japan. This floor deals with Tobacco in the Edo period and the spread of Tobacco, and there is an intresting area dedicated to tobacco manufacture.

The third floor is all about salt, its production and uses and its importance to us all. Thre are dioramas and detailed displays which explain salt harvest technologies and the worlds relieance on this natural resource. Japan harvests all of its salt from the sea while many countries expecially in Europe or Asia have natural deposits which they mine. The Japanese are facinated by these salt caves. Some of the displays show the amazing imagination used to create clever salt extraction methods from sea water.

For further information http://www.jti.co.jp/Culture/museum/Welcome.html