Deluxe Baseball Board
Released by Epoch Co., Ltd. in 1970
Owned by the Gifu City Museum of History

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Special featured exhibition

A Treasure Chest of Retro Toys

January 14 (Sat)−March 19 (Sunday), 2023

From the mid-Meiji period (1868-1912) onward, mass-produced, factory-made, stylish toys began to replace regional folk toys. The toy industry developed remarkably, incorporating new materials such as tin, rubber, and celluloid, as well as a new power source known as the spring. This development enabled Japan to overcome its period of stagnation caused by the war, and toys became a driving force in the postwar Japanese economy as the star of the export industry.

The material revolution and usage of plastic and vinyl accelerated the mass production and mass consumption of toys. New toys were sent out into the world, one after another. This exhibit introduces retro toys from the Showa period (1926-1989), mainly from the 1950s to the 1980s.

The photo shows a baseball themed board game. A popular baseball board game was released by Epoch Co., Ltd. in 1958. This series continues to add new features and is still sold today—including games such as “Disappearing Magic Ball,” “Slugger,” and “3D Ace”. The exhibited game has a stand added.

From left to right: the potter’s mark “Mino”, sue ware with the “Mino” mark (bowl and bowl lid) (both Important Cultural Properties, excavated at the Oibora No.1 Sue Ware Kiln Site)

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Special featured exhibition

Sue Ware from Gifu

November 5 (Sat), 2022 − January 9 (Mon/Holiday), 2023

Sue ware is a type of hard stoneware that was introduced to Japan from the Korean Peninsula after the Kofun period (ca.250−700) . Unlike Jomon, Yayoi, and Haji pottery that had been fired in fields or in simple kilns, sue ware was fired at high temperatures in full-scale kilns built on the slopes of mountains.

Sue ware was used daily in ancient settlements, and was also a major grave good buried in the Yokoana-shiki stone chambers of burial mounds—resulting in the creation of uniquely-shaped, decorative sue ware pieces. In the Nara period (710−794), many sue ware kilns were built in the area between present-day Gifu City and Kakamigahara City—previously one of the largest pottery production areas in Japan.

This special featured exhibition introduces the diversity of Gifu’s sue ware through artifacts excavated from ancient burial mounds and kiln sites.

Important Cultural Property, Tushita Mandala (a section)
Kamakura period to the Nanbokucho period, 14th century, owned by Seiganji Temple (Gifu City)
Exhibition Period: September 17 (Sat)−October 10 (Mon, Holiday), 2022

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Special featured exhibition

Gifu’s Buddhist Paintings

September 17 (Sat)−October 30 (Sun), 2022

This exhibit introduces excellent Buddhist paintings that have been handed down in Jodo Buddhist temples throughout the Gifu region.

Important Cultural Property, Tushita Mandala (a section)
Kamakura period to the Nanbokucho period, 14th century, owned by Seiganji Temple (Gifu City)
Exhibition Period: September 17 (Sat)−October 10 (Mon, Holiday), 2022

“The Lantern version of Chushingura” (Section) Utagawa Kuniyoshi

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Special featured exhibition

The World of Utagawa Kuniyoshi

August 20 (Sat)−September 11 (Sun), 2022

Works by the artist of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints in the late-Edo period, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, are filled with fantastical ideas and humor―continuing to charm many. This exhibit showcases Kuniyoshi’s artworks throughout various genres such as actor prints, bijinga (pictures of beautiful women), warrior pictures, and caricatures. Here you can enjoy their fascinating allure.

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Special featured exhibition

Retro Modern Advertising Designs

June 25 (Sat) – August 14 (Sun), 2022

Various advertising designs have developed and progressed together with our lifestyle.

In order to make brand names, company names, and services appealing, technology and materials of the time were used to incorporate ideas filled with originality and ingenuity―producing advertisements that varied widely in their modes of expression. This has led to the creation of Japan’s current advertising culture.

The exhibit introduces various advertising designs which hold special charms that can’t be found today.

Outside of Gifu Station built in 1913 (from “A picture postcard of an exhibition meant to commemorate the Taisho Emperor’s silver wedding”)

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Special featured exhibition

Time Travel
～A Modern Trip to Gifu～

April 29 (Friday/Holiday) − June 19 (Sun), 2022

Through picture postcards and travel brochures from the years 1900 through 1930, enjoy a trip to Gifu that makes you feel as though you’ve time traveled into that time.

A photo of Gifu Station built in 1913.

This station was originally Aichi Station (discontinued in 1909). It was reconstructed upon the relocation of Gifu Station―which first opened in 1887. The station was used as a gateway to Gifu Prefecture by many until it burned down during the Gifu bombing on the night of July 9, 1945.

Monks Gathering at Choshoji Temple

A View of the Itonuki River

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Special featured exhibition

The Wandering Painter, Minomushi Sanjin

March 12 (Sat) − April 24 (Sun), 2022

Minomushi Sanjin (1836−1900), otherwise known by his given name Toki Gengo, was born in Musubu village in Mino Province’s Anpachi district. Upon the death of his mother in 1849, Gengo left his hometown at the young age of 14. Taking on a nomadic lifestyle, he traveled all throughout Japanese archipelago―spending much time in the northeast. At age 21, he began to use the name Minomushi.

Minomushi Sanjin often painted during his travels. Although he is said to have studied “Nanga”, a southern school of Chinese painting popularized in the Edo period, his works lack the technical maturity of a professional painter. However, the unrefined and casual characteristics of his paintings are also what make them charming. At this exhibition, the allure of Minomushi’s works are shared through a collection owned by the museum.

The image above depicts Minomushi painting at Choshoji Temple―a Soto Zen temple located in what’s currently Aomori Prefecture’s Hirosaki City. The image below was painted during a visit to the Motosu district in his later years. Minomushi’s works are valued as historical records as they showcase the landscapes of his time.

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Special featured exhibition

How much are these?
― Currencies in the Edo period

January 22 (Sat) – March 6 (Sun), 2022

There were three types of currencies used: kinka, ginka and senka (gold coins, silver coins, and small coins). In addition to those 3 types, there were various types of paper money issued by the daimyo (feudal lords), merchants, temples, etc. This exhibit explains how money was used back then,through looking at currencies used in and around Gifu and household account books.

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Special featured exhibition

Go for the first prize!
Sports Festival in Gifu

November 28 (Sun), 2021 – January 16 (Sun), 2022

In the summer of 2021, the second Summer Olympic Games were held in Japan and many people enjoyed watching them live on TV.

Sports were introduced to Japan during the Meiji period, after they were developed and integrated based on the rational ideas of modern Europe. The rules and equipment are standardized beyond races, religions and borders. Track and field, rowing, baseball, etc. became popular. The foundation for club activities and sports festivals were established, while sporting events were gradually developed, which still to this day.
In this exhibition, we introduce a history of sporting events that took root over a wide range of generations, focusing on the two Gifu National Sports Festivals (known as Kokutai) held in 1965 and 2012.

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Special featured exhibition

“Yoro monogatari emaki” (Illustrated Scroll of the Tale of Yoro)

July 31 (Sat) – August 29 (Sun), 2021

This exhibition showcases Yoro monogatari emaki (Illustrated Scroll of the Tale of Yoro) owned by the Gifu City Museum of History. Based on “Koshi Monogatari” (The Tale of Koshi) concerning Yoro Falls, the scroll is thought to have been produced during the early and middle Edo period (17th – 18th century).

Costumes for Noh chant “Yoro” are currently displayed at the special exhibition. The chant “Yoro” was produced by Zeami based on the Tale of Koshi. The story in the scroll is not exactly the same as the one in “Yoro” (The Nochi-Shite* of the mountain god does not appear), however you will enjoy Noh's world even more comparing them.

Unlike other illustrated scrolls, this only consists of illustrations. It does not have “kotobagaki” (text) to explain the illustrations, which implies that the Tale of Koshi was so well-known that text was unnecessary. Even though the author is unknown, the painting style implies that it was someone who had studied the Tosa School of painting which focused mainly on “Yamato-e” (a traditional style of Japanese painting).

*Nochi-Shite: leading role in the latter half of a Noh play

Details of the current Special exhibition “The World of Noh Costumes in the early modern period” are here. (Exhibited until September 12)

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Special featured exhibition

Genealogy boom in the Edo period

June 5 (Sat) – July 25 (Sun), 2021

People in the Mino region during the Edo period valued family lineage and history. It is believed that this was because of “kashira-bun-sei,” the class system unique to the Mino region. The “Kashira-bun-sei” class system divides hyakusho (peasants) into the ranks of kashira-byakusho (high-ranking peasants) and waki-byakusho (low-ranking peasants). In the mid-Edo period, however, some waki-byakusho tried promoting themselves to kashira-byakusho, and this led to checking family history.

The special featured exhibition showcases the family trees and family history records, focusing on the background of creating those records, and the Mino-region’s cultural characteristics.

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Special featured exhibition

Mino carving: Accouterments of swords in Gifu

April 10 (Sat) – May 30 (Sun), 2021

The works of “Mino carving” among our collection are displayed.
A sword mounting (koshirae) includes fittings such as a sword guard (tsuba), hilt ornaments (menuki), and a small tool (kogai) attached to the sword sheath for hairdressing and ear cleaning. In the Edo period, sword fittings called “Mino-bori (Mino carving)” were created mainly in Gifu. Etching deeply into red copper on a black background, autumn plants and insects are frequently used for design, decorated with gold. Despite the garishness of the decoration, many of them create a subtle and melancholic atmosphere which is another feature of Mino-bori. These elaborate fittings do not stand out when wearing a sword, however, one can say that it was a way for samurai to demonstrate dandyism.