Tobu Museum of Transport & Culture
The Tobu Museum of Transport & Culture is adjacent to Higashi-Mukojima Station and has a number of original trains on display.
Tobu Museum of Transport & Culture 東武博物館
The Tobu Museum of Transport & Culture in Mukojima in north eastern Tokyo is a fun experience for parents with train-mad children. The Tobu Museum opened in 1989 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the company. The Tobu Museum is located right at Higashi-Mukoshima Station.
Tobu Museum, Tokyo
Tobu Bus, Tobu Museum, Tokyo
Exhibits
The over 460km of the Tobu network stretches through parts of Tokyo and out to Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture and Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture. Tobu was the largest investor in the Tokyo Skytree and is the second longest non-JR rail network after Kintetsu Railways in Kansai and Chubu.
Asakusa Station is the Tobu Line's main terminus station.
The Tobu Museum features 12 historic Tobu trains and buses including the company's first steam locomotive, electric train and electric locomotive.
The steam locomotive was one of the 12 B1 class 4-4-0 trains purchased from Beyer Peacock from their factory in Manchester in the UK in 1899. The first electric train dates from 1924 when the Tobu Line from Asakusa Station was electrified. Tobu's first electric locomotive was also purchased from the UK in 1928 and was made by English Electric.
Tobu Museum, Tokyo
Tobu Museum, Tokyo
Other vehicles on display include an Akechidaira ropeway gondola, a Tobu bus and various other trains: a Deluxe Romance Car that made the run to Nikko from 1960 to 1991, a 5700 series locomotive introduced after World War II which ran for over 40 years, an ED 5010 freight train and a streetcar that ran in Nikko until the 1960's.
Besides the trains on show the train simulators are particularly popular and visitors can experience driving a number of Tobu trains. A large 1:80 model railway featuring Tobu stations in Kanto and the Tokyo Skytree is also impressive.
Further exhibits include a collection of model trains, train parts and preserved historical materials such as uniforms, stations signs, tickets and signals. There is also a small section dedicated to the history of the Mukojima area and the nearby Mukojima-Hyakkaen Gardens.
Museum staff present various shows of the steam locomotive and the model railway at set times throughout the day.
The second floor viewing platform allows visitors to look out through windows at the wheels of passing Tobu Line trains.
The Tobu Museum has a small shop selling Tobu railway memorabilia and goods.
Tobu Museum, Tokyo
Tobu Museum Tokyo Hours
Open 10 am-4.30 pm; closed Mondays or the following day if Monday is a national holiday. The museum is closed over the New Year period from December 29-January 3.
Admission
200 yen for adults; 100 yen for children aged 4 to Junior High School.
Access
Tobu Museum (www.tobu.co.jp/museum)
4-28-16 Higashi-Mukoshima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 131-0032
Tel: 03 3614 8811
Tobu Museum is next to Higashi-Mukoshima Station on the Tobu Skytree Line. By bus take a sato-22 bus from Nippori to Kameido and get off at the Hyakkaen-mae stop. From here is is 7 minutes on foot. Alternatively take a kusa-39 bus to Kanamachi-Asakusa Kotobuki-cho and walk 3 minutes.
A visit to the Tobu Museum can easily be combined with seeing the Seiko Museum and Mukojima-Hyakkaen Gardens.
Tobu Museum, Tokyo
