We tell folktales of Michinoku in the regional dialect. “Michinoku” is the ancient name of the Tohoku (Northeastern Japan) region.
This event is usually held on the 3rd Saturday of odd-numbered months.

• Date: May 16 (Saturday), 2026
• Time: 14:00 ~ 14:30
• Fee: the admission fee only
• Place: 22. The Kudo House
• Story tellers: Michinoku Mukashi-gatari

Learn how to craft a grasshopper with palm leaves.

This event is usually held in spring and autumn.
Anyone above the age of elementary school can participate.

• Date: May 6 (Wednesday, national holiday)
• Time: 10:00 ~ 12:00, 13:00 ~ 15:00 *subject to be canceled if rainy
• Fee: Admission fee only
• Place: 6. The Sasaki House
• Cooperator: the volunteer group Robata-no-Kai

In this workshop you can experience the process of traditional washi paper-making in an easier way.
Make your own original washi in a post card size by reuse the fiber of the old shoji (Japanese sliding door) paper used in the folk houses of our museum. Blend in decorative materials such as dried plants, wrap the piece of washi around a small glass bottle, you get a lovely lamp!

• Date: May 6 (Wednesday, national holiday), 2026 *it will not be canceled in light rain
• Time: (1)10:00~　(2)11:00~　(3)13:00~　(4)14:00~　(5)15:00~　(50 minutes for each time slot)
• Anybody can participate.* A Child under 3rd grade must be accompanied by 1 guardian
• Capacity: 6 participants for each time slot
• Fee: 800 yen (Please pay with cash at the venue) *the admission to Nihon Minka-en required in addition
• How to participate: Numbered tickets will be handed out from 9:30 on the day at the venue
• Venue: the yard of 6. The Sasaki House

Children can learn about the folk houses and the living in the past through the explanation by a curator of our museum.

• Date: May 4 (Monday, national holiday), May 6 (Wednesday, national holiday), 2026
• Time: 10:00~ (about 20 minutes)
• Fee: Admission fee only
• Free to participate on the day
• Presenter: a curator of our museum
• Place: 6. the Sasaki House

Various events are prepared for children and their family!

These events includes trying on folk wears, traditional games, crafting workshops, demonstration of reeling silk from cocoons, folk story telling, gallery talk for children and etc..

*Please refrain from sketching using chairs or easels, or taking photographs using tripods, as it is expected to be crowded.

• Dates: May 2 (Saturday) ~ May 6 (Wednesday, national holiday), 2026 * in smaller scale if it rains
• Date and Time: the date and time vary for each event. The details are as below.

Decorations for May, including warrior's helmet, are displayed, wishing for the robust growth of boys.

• Date: April 8 (Thursday) ~ May 12 (Tuesday), 2026
• Time: Free to visit during opening hours
• Fee: the Admission Fee Only
• Place: the main building, (0. The Hara House: until May 5 Tuesday and national holiday)

Café in the folk house is open this spring for a limited period!
Beside Japanese black tea and baked sweets, daily specials including soup and bread, are served.
Please drop in and have a relaxing time in the Hara house which is an Important Cultural Property of Kanagawa Prefecture. *Some food can be taken away.

Details

• Opening Date: Saturday, Sunday and national holidays during March 20 (Friday, national holiday) ~ May 6 (Wednesday, national holiday), and April 28 (Tuesday) *There may be Temporary Closures

[March] 20 (Friday, national holiday), 21 (Saturday), 22 (Sunday), 28 (Saturday), 29 (Sunday)

[April] 4 (Saturday), 5 (Sunday), 11 (Saturday), 12 (Sunday), 18 (Saturday), 19 (Sunday), 25 (Saturday), 26 (Sunday), 28 (Tuesday), 29 (Wednesday, national holiday)

[May] 2 (Saturday), 3 (Sunday, national holiday), 4 (Monday, national holiday), 5 (February, national holiday), 6 (Wednesday, national holiday)

• Opening Hour: 11:00 ~ 16:00 (last order 15:30) * will close earlier when sold out.
• Fee: Admission fee for Minkaen is required.
• Place: the tatami room on the 1st floor of 0. The Hara House
The cafe in the Hara house

Indigo-dyed works with patterns associated with "Tango no Sekku" (the Boys' Festival), koinobori (carp-shaped streamer) and etc., are on exhibit.

• Date: March 11 (Wednesday) ~ May 6 (Wednesday, national holiday), 2026
• Time: 9:30 ~ 17:00
• Fee: Free (inside Dento Kogeikan only)　*Admission fee required to visit Nihon Minkaen
• Place: Traditional Indigo Dyeing Workshop

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