Takuya Kawai speaks while holding a camera. Photo credit: Japan News
The Extinct Media Museum Tokyo is a unique, private museum that showcases a vast collection of “extinct” media equipment.
Located in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, these gadgets are already or will soon become obsolete due to the evolution of technology. The museum displays cameras, cell phones and music players.
The museum also has home video cameras that line its shelves, including cameras for silent 8mm film. There was probably a similar one at my home in the early 1980s.
A variety of mobile phones. Photo credit: Japan News
After film cameras, video cameras became mainstream. Those in turn were followed by compact passport-sized models and models with liquid-crystal displays. All of them enjoyed great popularity among consumers.
“Humans have a desire to leave something behind and pass it on to future generations,” museum director Takuya Kawai said. “Engineers have fulfilled the desire, and recording media has evolved.”
Without the device to play the video, however, what the devices recorded cannot be viewed. Therefore, he said such media [as video tapes] became extinct. His words reminded me of some VHS video tapes at my home, which are virtually unplayable now.
Devices are displayed at Extinct Media Museum Tokyo. Photo credit: Japan News
The museum opened in January 2023. Kawai displayed an 8mm film camera in an area next to a video studio because he believed they would become Instagrammable. Then, people began donating cameras and other equipment, and Kawai decided to establish a museum to display them.
“This place is almost like a graveyard for gadgets,” Kawai said. “I want visitors to look at the history of technology from a consumer's perspective.” Of the 4,000 items in the museum's collection, 80% have been donated.
The museum also has an ample collection of old-style mobile phones and portable music players as well as black rotary phones. Visitors can touch and feel all the devices.
“It’s really nice to see things I used in junior high and high school, such as digital cameras, cell phones and Walkmans,” said a visitor. “They brought back memories of my youth.”
The museum must be an ideal place to play back your memories.
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Extinct Media Museum Tokyo
Address: 2-3-6 Uchi-Kanda, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo
Access: A 5-minute walk from JR Kanda Station or Otemachi Station on the Marunouchi Line
Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in principle. Open 365 days a year. Taking photos and video are allowed inside the building. Admission is 2,000 yen for adults and 1,000 yen for high school and college students.
