The Post Town and the Shin-Etsu Regional Village are illuminated during the extended opening hours of Minkaen.

The fire in the sunken hearth is lit in some of the folk houses. You are welcome to sit on the wood floor and relax by the fireside.
Enjoy the fantastic view of illuminated folk houses and autumn leaves in the dark.

• Date: November 22 (Saturday), 23 (Sunday and national holiday), 29 (Saturday), 2025 * Sunset around 16:30
• Hours: 17:00 ~ 20:00 (last admission 19:30; after 16:00, the admission is limited to the Front Gate only)
• Area: the Post Town and the Shin-Etsu Regional Village　*All areas can be visited before 16:30.

Entry or exit after 16:30 pm is possible only at the Front Gate. You cannot enter or exit from the Yamashita Gate where the Soba restaurant is located.

* The event will be held in smaller scale if it rains.
* The autumn leave may be not at its best at the time of the event.
* It may be crowded on the day. Please refrain from photographing using tripod or monopod and sketching using easels, chairs or picnic sheet.

In Japanese folklore it is said that a goblin with only one eye comes to people's houses on February 8 and December 8. People used to raise high a mesh basket (the meshes resemble eyes) in front of the house to ward off evils.

• Date: November 20, Thursday ~ December 9, Tuesday, 2025
• Time: 9:30 ~ 16:30
• Fee: admission fee only
• Place: 15. the Kitamura House

Snow fence, a traditional way of protecting folk houses from heavy snow in snowy regions, is reproduced at the Sugawara House.

• Date: Sunday, November 16, 2025 ~ Sunday, March 1, 2026
*The snow fence is installed on November 15 and 16, 2025, and is removed on March 1, 2026. The schedule may change depending on weather condition.

• Time: any time during the opening hours
• Place: 23. the Sugawara House
• In cooperation with: Mingu-Seisaku-Gijutsu-Hozonkai

There are gallery talks on the special exhibition "Living in Gokayama – 30th Anniversary of the Registration as a World Heritage Site".
Please feel free to join on the spot.

• Time: 14:00 ~ (about 30 minutes)
• Fee: Admission Fee only
• Presenter: a curator of our museum
• Place: the exhibition room in the Main Building *It may change. Please confirm on the day.

Please click the link for details of the Special Exhibition "Living in Gokayama – 30th Anniversary of the Registration as a World Heritage Site".

Three Gassho-style houses from the Gokayama region of Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture have been relocated to the Minkaen.
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the registration of the Gassho-style Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama, the home of these three houses, as a World Heritage Site, a special exhibition will be held focusing on the lifestyle and culture of the Gokayama region.

• Period: October 1 (Wednesday), 2025 ~ May 24 (Sunday), 2026
• Hours: 9:30 ~ 17:00 (9:30　~ 16:30 during November to February)
• Fee: Admission Fee only
• Place: the Exhibition Room in the Main Building

Café in the folk house is open this autumn!

You can enjoy coffee, Japanese black tea, baked sweets, and have a relaxing time in the tatami room of the Hara house, which is an Important Cultural Property of Kawasaki City.
Please drop in during your visit to Minkaen.

• Period: Saturday, Sunday and national holidays during September 27 ~ November 30　*There may be temporary closures.

Opening dates:

September
27 (Saturday), 28 (Sunday) October
4 (Saturday), 5 (Sunday), 11 (Saturday)*, 12 (Sunday), 13 (Monday, national holiday), 18 (Saturday), 19 (Sunday), 25 (Saturday), 26 (Sunday) November
1 (Saturday), 2 (Sunday), 3 (Monday, national holiday), 8 (Saturday), 9 (Sunday), 15 (Saturday), 16 (Sunday), 22 (Saturday), 23 (Sunday, national holiday), 24 (Monday, national holiday), 29 (Saturday), 30 (Sunday)

• Opening Hours:
  11:00 ~ 16:00 (*13:00 ~ 16:00 on October 11) (Last order 15:30)*will close when sold out
• Fee: admission fee for Minkaen is required.
• Place: 1st Floor of 0. The Hara house