Tobacco & Salt Museum

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  • Address
    1-16-8 Jinnan, Shibuya-ku
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  • Phone
    3476 2041
  • Website
  • Transport
    train: JR Yamanote line to Shibuya (Hachikō exit)
underground rail: JR Yamanote Line or subway Ginza Line to Shibuya (Hachikō exit)/JR Yamanote Line orGinza Line to Shibuya (Hachikō exit)

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Lonely Planet review

For years, smokers have found solace in Tokyo's cafés and bars, and for much of that time the government was in the business of supplying them through a tobacco monopoly. That company has since been privatised to Japan Tobacco Inc, which is the owner of this museum, a shrine to the bitter leaf, complete with pipes, paraphernalia and wood-block prints.

Downstairs is a homage to Japanese modes of salt production, which until recently was conducted by cumbersome harvests from a reluctant sea. Among the exhibits is a grey, crystalline salt cylinder whose circumference could match that of a small whale. English signage is sadly limited, though the visual power of the exhibits here speak for themselves.