Learn about the coins of ancient China and their evolution to Japan’s modern coins when you visit Osaka’s Mint Museum. Make your way to the museum along a tree-lined path past a pair of eight-sided guardhouses that served as the entry to the original Mint Bureau. In the spring many of the 300 trees here turn pink with delicate cherry blossoms.
Enter the redbrick building to explore three floors filled with coins and other artifacts. Most of the museum’s historic coins are on the third floor. Some come from ancient times, while others are more modern, including coins with a Star Wars theme. Learn about the history of the Mint Bureau and the process of minting coins as well.
Head to the second floor for several hands-on challenges. Try lifting gold and silver bullion bars, bags filled with coins and a senryo-bako money chest from the Edo era that held 1,000 gold coins.
See a diorama of the original Mint Bureau on the first floor. Originally established in 1871, the mint is one of the oldest Western-style buildings in Japan. Mint operations were noted for their modern methods of minting coins and adoption of Western bookkeeping practices.
Visit the Mint Museum for free. It is open daily except the third Wednesday of the month check the museum website for more information.
Displays in the museum have Japanese descriptions, with an English audio guide available. Stop at the Mint Shop to view and purchase commemorative coins, medals and paperweights. If you understand Japanese, book a free tour of the Mint Bureau itself. These are offered several times a day and last for about 90 minutes.
Find the Mint Museum in the Kita district of Osaka. Walk here in 10 to 15 minutes from the Osaka Temmangu, Sakuranomiya or Minami-Morimachi rail stations. Stand along the O River and look west. Notice how the Mint Bureau building just beyond the museum has a large green disc at the top of the façade, fittingly suggesting the appearance of an oxidized copper coin. Peak cherry blossom viewing happens from mid to late April.
