The Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, founded by the Takenaka construction company, is the only museum in Japan devoted to carpentry tools. It sits next to Shin-Kobe Station.
Why it's unique
It is the only museum in Japan devoted to carpentry tools, in a country whose wooden building tradition depends on them.
The centrepiece is a full-size replica of the bracket complex from the main hall of Tōshōdai-ji, which you can see at eye level instead of craning up at it in Nara, and there are hands-on tool exhibits.
Before you go
The centrepiece is a full-size replica of the bracket complex from the main hall of Tōshōdai-ji, seen at eye level instead of craning up at it in Nara. The "skeleton" tea room shows the joinery a finished tea house hides, and there are hands-on tool exhibits.
It is next to Shin-Kobe Station, which makes it a good use of an hour before a bullet train.
