Tobacco & Salt Museum

For years, smokers have found solace in Tokyo’s cafes 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 speaks for itself.