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Iwatsuki Doll Museum

Published: Aug 11, 2026

Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Iwatsukidollshina ningyocraft museumSaitama City

Representative image — not a photograph of this location.

Iwatsuki has made dolls since the Edo period, on the back of paulownia timber from the surrounding country and a plaster made from local clay, and it still supplies a large share of Japan's hina and Boys' Day dolls. Around fifty workshops operate in the district. This museum, opened in 2020, was the first public museum in Japan devoted to the doll as a subject.

What it does well is treat the doll as an object with a craft behind it rather than a decoration. The tools are displayed alongside the finished figures: the paulownia sawdust, the gofun shell plaster built up in layers and polished, the brushes used to set an eye. Three exhibition rooms cover the history from Edo through to modern makers, and the shop and cafe are outside the ticket gate.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (last entry 30 minutes before closing)

Closed: Closed Mondays (opening if Monday is a public holiday) and over the new year

Entrance Fee

¥300 general | ¥150 high school and university students and those aged 65 and over | ¥100 elementary and junior high school | Shop and cafe free

Best Season

February–March for the hina doll season

Visit Duration

1–1.5 hours

Getting There

Access Information

Honcho 6-1-1, Iwatsuki Ward, Saitama City. About 10 minutes on foot from Iwatsuki Station on the Tobu Urban Park Line. Open 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM with last entry 30 minutes before closing. Closed Mondays, opening if Monday is a public holiday, and over the new year, with occasional additional closures. Admission ¥300 general, ¥150 high school and university students and those aged 65 and over, ¥100 elementary and junior high school. The shop and cafe are free to enter.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Gofun is crushed oyster shell.** Layer after layer of it brushed on and polished back gives a doll's face its depth, and the museum shows the stages side by side. It is the single thing that explains why a good doll costs what it does. **February and March for the hina season.** The town's workshops open and the museum's displays are at their fullest. Iwatsuki runs a doll festival through this period. **Workshops in the surrounding streets are open.** Around fifty makers operate in the district and several have shopfronts where work is visible. The museum can point you at them. **Three hundred yen.** Priced as a municipal facility, and the shop and cafe are outside the gate if you only want those. **Iwatsuki Castle park is a short walk.** Little survives beyond the earthworks and a gate, but the cherry blossom in April is well regarded and free.

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