"The charm of fishing is that
it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable,
a perpetual series of occasions for hope."
it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable,
a perpetual series of occasions for hope."
John Buchan
Scottish novelist and historian
The sign board, showing the
direction to Shirahama Marine Museum.
The small wooden structure
that houses hundreds of collections from the Edo period.
The
geographical location of Tateyama makes it cannot be separated from the
sea. Our next stop took us to Shirahama Marine Museum, to learn more
about the life of fisherman and also to see an unique kind of folk
costume, worn by the fisherman during the Edo period, called
maiwai (万祝). Maiwai, (literally
translates "ten thousand of celebration") refers to a celebration of a
huge catch, and is believed to be originated from the Bōsō Peninsula,
which later spread to the Pacific Ocean coast of Japan.
Initially, maiwai
was more commonly known as maiwai-hanten (万祝半纏) or
short coat, and is made whenever there was a big catch. This Japanese
traditional garment is later worn during the celebration of the big
catch. The main characteristic of maiwai is the
beautiful motif, each individually hand-drawn at the back of the
costume. A good quality maiwai could fetch up to
200,000 yen (approximately RM6,000), which
maiwai-hanten costs about one-third of that.
Did not wanna miss out
trying out this piece of maiwai (photo credit: Tooru Ishikawa).
All kinds of seashells on display in the museum (photo credit: Ayako Uchiyama).
Shirahama
Marine Museum has a huge collection of beautiful
maiwai on display. Besides that, this unique museum
also exhibits marine-related collections which are more than 400 to 100
years ago. Visitors to this museum will be warmly greeted by the
ever-friendly owner, who is willing to explain in detail the history and
stories behind each collection in the museum.
There
is a gallery corner in this museum that features various of art
collections, and also small souvenir shop here. Visitors can take a
short coffee break in a small garden outside this museum after the
visit, making this a place you would not want to miss out when you drop
by Shirahama.
Chiba Kun Ambassadors
listening attentively to the explaination by the owner (photo credit: Masataka Ishizaki).
They even have a parking
space for pets lol! See how great the hospitality this museum
provides.
|| INFORMATION ||
Shirahama Marine MuseumOperating hours: 09:00 - 17:00 (closed every Thursday)
Admission Fees: Adult: 500yen; Student: 400yen; Children (below 15): 200yen
(10% discount for group admission, senior, disabled individuals)
Parking spaces: Available (no charge, no reservations required)
Address: 628-1, Shirahama, Shirahama-cho, Minamiboso-shi, Chiba Prefecture, 295-0102, Japan.
Tel: 0470-38-4551 Fax: 0470-38-4551
Website: http://homepage2.nifty.com/kaibi/ (Japanese only)
Access: Train: Tateyama station (館山駅) on JR Uchibō Line (JR内房線), then take local bus to Shirahama.
Car: Route 127 and Route 86, approximately 30 minutes from Tateyama.