The stencil dyeing works by our staff, with patterns of horse, the zodiac sign of the year 2026, are on exhibit.

• Date: Wednesday, November 26, 2025 ~ Monday and national holiday, January 12, 2026
• Time: Free to visit during opening hours
• Fee: free (only inside of Traditional Indigo Dyeing Workshop)
• Place: Traditional Indigo Dyeing Workshop

You can experience indigo dyeing (with additional charge) in the Traditional Indigo Dyeing Workshop. Please refer to the page of the Traditional Indigo Dyeing Workshop for more details.

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

An architect of Minkaen explains the highlights about architecture of the folk houses in each area.
Visitors can join or leave halfway through the tour, so please feel free to join on the spot.
*There is also a tour about the living in the folk houses.

• Time: 14:00 ~ (about 1 hour)
• Fee: Admission fee only
• Explanation: An architect of Minkaen

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