Explore a hidden gem in Kawasaki City where greenery meets Japan’s cultural heritage. Ikuta Ryokuchi Park and the Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum provide a relaxing escape from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, combining natural beauty with the country’s architectural history.

A café located inside the Kawasaki Municipal Science Museum that has an exhibition room about the planetarium and the nature of Ikuta Ryokuchi Park and Kawasaki. Café Hoshimeguri faces the plaza in Ikuta Ryokuchi Park, allowing you to fully enjoy nature. After experiencing space in the planetarium, relax at the café.

Located 30 minutes from Tokyo and 40 minutes by car from Haneda Airport, this municipal Japanese folklore park in the northern part of Kawasaki City is an outdoor museum that features 25 structures, including traditional Japanese houses, watermills, and Kabuki stages. The buildings are scattered amongst a lush green environment, and you can enjoy the nature of all four seasons. Popular events are also held at the traditional folk houses. In one of the facilities, the traditional crafts building, you can experience indigo dyeing.A gasshō-zukuri house with tall, steep roof and home to the Yamashita family known for their silkworm cultivation and fire farming on the mountain slopes.Similar to the Yamashita House, there was also space under the floors used for the manufacturer of gunpowder.Silkworms were raised in the large attic and papermaking took place on one of the earthen-floored areas.This house was used as both farmhouse and a dye-house.

Soba Noodle Restaurant "Shirakawa-go" is on the 1st floor of the Yamashita House located in the center of Nihon Minka-en. This house is an old folk house with a large gassho-zukuri-style thatched roof, which is designated an important cultural property of Kanagawa prefecture. The soba noodle served here is made of spring water obtained from Oshino village in Yamanashi prefecture.

The Metasequoia Avenue is located within Ikuta Ryokuchi Park, which also features cultural facilities such as the Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum, the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, and the Kawasaki Municipal Science Museum, making it the ideal destination for visitors who enjoy both nature and culture. (Photo courtesy of photolibrary)