Reopening after renovation! Museum that fosters love for Furusato Funabashi

Funabashi City Local Collection Museum is a natural history museum that collects and houses artifacts related to history and folklore, carries out investigations and research, and broadly displays the results of those activities.

 It opened in 1972 as the first natural history museum in Funabashi and has been closed since October 2015 for renovations. The contents have been updated and the museum reopened on January 28, 2019!
It is based on the concept, ‘fostering love for Furusato Funabashi’ (a furusato is one’s hometown or another place that evokes warm feelings of nostalgia)[L1] .The many artifacts displayed here are not only valuable, but also stimulate nostalgia and offer new discoveries.
Display techniques such as videos are used so that visitors of any age can rediscover the appeal of Funabashi.
So, let’s go to the Funabashi City Local Collection Museum for a journey through Funabashi’s history!

Tour through the history of Funabashi from ancient times to the present

As you enter the No. 1 Display Room on the second floor that is the main display area, you will first see a video guidance section.With the videos on the walls and floor, you can get a preview of the display room contents that you are about to see.

After that is the Time Slip Gate.Glance sideways at the pictures going back from the present all the way to the primitive era and start traveling through time!

Primitive times with rows of artifacts such as clay figures, stone tools, and earthenware vessels and ancient times with funerary goods excavated from ancient burial mounds in the city.The display by era gives you a glimpse of the people who have been living in Funabashi since ancient times.

The area encompassing the Asuka Period to the early modern period has many valuable documents, clay tools, and other artifacts on display, including the Zuika Soho Goka mirror designated as a tangible cultural asset by the City of Funabashi (mirror thought to be created in the first half of the 12th century excavated from a site in Funabashi) and an Itabi stone tablet (memorial pagoda).

 The Industry section has actual tools used in the city. The Modern Era section has diaries and anthologies that explain a little about Funabashi in older times and the nostalgic pamphlets of the Funabashi Health Center.

Learn about Funabashi through 3 display themes

The three essential themes for telling the story of Funabashi are Funabashi and Horses, Development of a City, and Development of a Railway Network. Artifacts for each theme are on display.

The horse model that especially stands out at the museum was reconstructed from bones unearthed in the city. Comparing it to the thoroughbred horse depicted on the wall, you can see that it was much smaller.Horses have been bred in Funabashi since long ago and the Shogunate had a ranch under its direct control during the Edo period. Funabashi had a base for a regiment of horses until 1942 and today has two race tracks (the Nakayama Racecourse and the Funabashi Racecourse) that are very lively.Enjoy learning about the deep relationship between Funabashi and horses in this themed display.

The Development of a City section displays a three-dimensional diorama created by the students of Funabashi Municipal Takane Elementary School as their graduation project in the 1980-81 academic year. The fine details are so astonishing it is hard to believe it was created by children at the time and the display gives a strong sense of the landscape in that year.The Development of a Railway Network section is one you cannot miss. It shows changes in the railway network of 9 lines and 35 stations that has supported the development of Funabashi.

Details

Hours of operation

9 AM to 5 PM (doors close at 4:30 PM)

Closed

Mondays, the day after a public holiday (excluding Saturdays and Sundays), year-end and New Year holidays
*Temporary closures on other days for maintenance.

Rates

Free

Address

4-25-19 Yakuendai, Funabashi

Parking

15 spaces (free, shared with Yakuendai Park)

Access

10-minute walk from Narashino Station

From the Tsudanuma Station north exit no. 1 to no. 3 bus stop, take the Shinkeisei bus bound for Kitanarashino Station, Takatsu Danchi Chuo, and Narashino Shako or take the Chiba Rainbow Bus bound for Yachiyomidorigaoka Station, Funao Shako, Kioroshi Station, and Chiba New Town Chuo Station. Get off at the Kyodo Shiryokan (Funabashi City Local Collection Museum and walk 2 minutes.

Inquiries

Phone: 047-465-9680 (9 AM to 5 PM) *Except when the building is closed