Tobacco and Salt Museum in Shibuya

An old-fashioned tobacco shop with vending machine set up inside the museum. Inside there was a tiny room with tatami on the floor and 60's era TV set.

Beautiful cigarette package designs.



Mannequins showing how tobacco was hand-processed in olden times.

Gorgeous lacquer and bronze tobacco set.


Tokyo has many quirky museums and exhibits, as most guides will tell you. I've often heard the Tobacco and Salt Museum being worth a quick stop in Shibuya for a mere 100 yen entrance fee (about $1). However being a non-smoker, I was never too excited to learn about the glories of tobacco production in Japan.

This time I went out of my way to visit this museum because they were holding a special exhibit on Vienna's tobacco and café culture, in celebration of 140 years of Japan-Austria relations. Anyone who knows me knows how Vienna has a special place in my heart. This exhibit turned out to be very interesting. There were documents and historical artifacts detailing the history of tobacco production, trade and usage in Austria and throughout the world. There were elaborate meerschaum pipes, jeweled snuff boxes, art deco cigarette cases and other beautifully crafted antique implements made for the enjoyment of tobacco. There were even pipes and other things from Emperor Franz Joseph's personal belongings, and a classic Viennese café set-up with coffee tray and smoking table on the side. Unfortunately, photography was strictly verboten so I have no pictures of this exhibit.

The salt part of the museum is rather ho-hum, and I went through this very quickly. The tobacco part of the museum was a surprise, and this is where I took tons of photos. I'm fascinated by vintage ephemera and I got an eyeful of graphic wonders here. I loved all the colorful cigarette packages with special edition designs, with themes revolving around the big event of the year - a new train, the Olympics, the war effort. Some of them are small works of art. There was even a little old-fashioned tobacco shop set up (you still see these types of shops all over Japan). This museum is worth the visit for anyone interested in Japanese design - and don't miss any special exhibits going on.

Tobacco and Salt Museum

Jinnan 1-16-8, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo, Japan 150-0041 Phone: + 81-3-3476-2O41

www.jti.co.jp/Culture/museum