By Jane B. Kaihatsu
Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer

Tokyo, for better or worse, is a city marked by change. Sometimes these changes are startling and dramatic, especially architecturally. Recent examples include the new shopping-amusement centers of Takashimaya Times Square and Yebisu Garden Place. Then there’s the Tokyo metropolitan government building, the Tokyo Museum of Modem Art and the new Fuji Television headquarters—all of which conjure up a sleek, imposing and solidly structured image befitting an important metropolis entering a new century.

Naturally, the people’s lifestyle is changing, too. Nowadays, products from all over the world are readily available. The Weekend section’s "The Epicures" reports on the latest eateries featuring cuisine from Tunis to Thailand, and the market for splendid wines that a few decades ago only the privileged could have known about and purchased. The influences from abroad, combined with updates of Japanese customs adapting themselves to the modem lifestyle, contribute to a rich and stimulating life in the capital.

But to appreciate the changes, as Japanese traditions seep away and the

decrepit wood structures are torn down, it is well worth looking at the past to take note of the contrast between then and now. Fortunately, Tokyo has some excellent museums and facilities that are preserving local history through structural and lifestyle reconstructions—where visitors experience history viscerally and not by a detached viewing through glass windows.

Today begins a three-part series introducing some historical spots. A few are off the beaten path and require a detailed city map to find them, but it’s an intrepid journey to the subtle places where past is present.

In the sleepy city of Koganei in the western suburbs of Tokyo, culturally valuable historical structures from the Edo period (1600-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912), Taisho (1912-1926) and early Showa (1926-1989) eras haves been brought to this site for restoration and reconstruction, amid the pastoral setting of Koganei Municipal Park.

With a forest as a backdrop, these spectacularly preserved outdoor exhibits are divided into three zones, featuring an Edo farmhouse of a village master, the exquisitely furnished residence of Hachirouemon Mitsui, brought over from Nishi Azabu in Minato Ward (with rooms constructed in 1897), and a charming shitamachi section with seven buildings including a soy sauce shop (1933), tavern (1856), public bathhouse (1929), flower shop (1927) and stationery store (1927), among others. All 21 of the structures are completely accessible, with some slightly altered to accommodate wheelchairs.

Of particular interest is the opulent house of Korekiyo Takahashi, a politician. in. the Meiji and early Showa eras. The first floor has been converted into a refreshment area that overlooks a partial replica of the Japanese garden that surrounded the house when it was located in Akasaka.

A detailed brochure in English about the history and architectural value of the structures is available.

Information:

The museum is located at
3-7-1 Sakuracho, Koganei City, Tokyo. Tel. (0423) 88-3311. Open daily 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. April through September; closes at 4:30 p.m. other months; closed on Mondays (except when Monday is a holiday) and New Year’s holidays.

Admission: Adults:Y300; high, middle and pomary school students Y150. People 65 years and older and children younger than primary school age are admitted free of charge.

The museum is a five-minute ride. on a bus bound for Mitaka Station from bus stop No. 4 at JR Musashi Koganei Station on the Chuo Line. Get off at Edo Tokyo Tatemonoen-mae stop. Or board a Musashi Koganei Station-bound bus from Hana Koganei Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line and get off at Koganei Koen Nishiguchi.

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Added July 12, 1998