Welcome to the Umi Yama Aida Musée

Our ancestors received the bounties of Nature with gratitude, taking the time and effort to craft a lifestyle in harmony with their surroundings. The UMI YAMA AIDA MUSÉE was created as the real-world embodiment of the arts and wisdom depicted in the documentary film “Umi Yama Aida; In Between Mountains and Oceans.” We hope our visitors will experience the world of the film by visiting this space.

From here at Ise Gekumae, Toyouke no Omikami, we bring to Japan and the rest of the world the clothing, food, and shelter derived from the arts and wisdom of our ancestors.

Please enjoy the pleasant passing of time in the relaxed atmosphere of this romantic Taisho-era building.

About the building

Formerly the Yamada Post Office Telephone Branch Office of the Ministry of Communications

Flat brick structure, 550 sq. meters

The building was constructed in November of 1923 as an extension of the original Uji Yamada Post Office (which has since been moved to Meiji Mura). Afterwards it was repurposed first as a telephone switching room, then as the Ise Health Department, then later as a library for Ise local records, until it finally took its present form as the Musée. It was designed by Tetsuro Yoshida (1894 – 1956), then a young architect at the Ministry of Communications.

The visually-distinctive exterior, with a row of tall windows lining the outside walls and a sharply-sloped red brick roof over warped eaves, is a perfect complement to the town of Shinto Ise, and is said have set the visual style for other office buildings later built in the area.