About 50 minutes outside Nagoya is one incredible outdoor museum. Situated on more than 200 acres of beautifully landscaped rolling hills overlooking a large lake is the Meiji Mura or “village”. This property features more than 70 structures from the Meiji Era which spanned from around 1860 to the early 1900’s during Japan’s opening to the West.
One man acquired these buildings from all parts of Japan in the early 1900’s, disassembled them, transported them here, and rebuilt them to form this amazing pedestrian friendly village. There are theaters, schools, houses, temples and churches. There is even a prison. This place provides you a glimpse into life during this dynamic period of Japanese history. This is simply an amazing place that few foreign visitors know about, so it is one of these Japan off the beaten path kind of places.
The grounds are amazingly laid out with plenty of gardens and places to rest as well as snacking and meals. It is so large there is even a period style bus that will drive you around the village as well as a train. You could easily spend an entire day here. We highly recommend it as it is not well known by foreign visitors, and thus not overrun with foreign tourists.