Showa Roman-gura: Dagashiya no Yume Museum
A nostalgic collection of toys is on display at the Dagashiya no Yume Museum. These toys are reminiscent of items found at stores called dagashiya that originated in the Meiji era (1868–1912) and sold inexpensive snacks and toys. These stores also offered coin-operated arcade-style games and capsule toy machines called gashapon. With the gradual introduction of convenience stores throughout Japan, dagashiya slowly declined, and very few can be found in the country today.
The museum houses a staggering assortment of around 60,000 items acquired by Komiya Hironobu, one of the most prominent dagashiya toy collectors in the country. Komiya is also the director of the museum and owns as many as 300,000 dagashiya items dating from before the Second World War to the late 1980s. These include figurines of pop-culture icons, old records, and magazines. The foundations of Japanese pop culture are visible in many of these items.
Temporary dagashi exhibitions, typically lasting three months, highlight iconic characters or themes of Japanese culture during the Showa era (1926–1989). Retro movie posters are on display on the second floor. The gift shop is designed to offer visitors the atmosphere of shopping at a traditional dagashiya.