S P O T ／ SPOT-087

Iwashita Shin-Shōga Museum (Pickled Ginger Theme Museum)

岩下の新生姜ミュージアムいわしたのしんしょうがみゅーじあむ

The Iwashita Shin-Shōga Museum is what happens when a 19th-century pickle company decides to build the world's first museum dedicated entirely to its single most famous product: young pickled ginger. Opened in 2015 by Iwashita Foods in their home town of Tochigi, the museum is, top to bottom, ferociously pink: walls, ceilings, light fixtures, exhibits, cafeteria, mascot character (Iwashika-chan), even the in-house Shintō-style 'Ginger Shrine' where visitors can pray for ginger-related wishes. Permanent exhibits cover the history of ginger, the manufacturing process, vintage packaging from every decade since the 1950s, and a rotating series of crossover events with anime franchises, idol groups, and contemporary artists. The on-site cafe Pink Deli serves food in which essentially every dish includes new ginger as an ingredient — including ginger soft-serve, ginger curry, and ginger soda. Admission is free; photography is encouraged throughout; and the museum has become, against expectation, one of the surprise pilgrimage sites of provincial Japanese subculture tourism.