April 25, – June 21, 2026

This exhibition introduces the world of commerce in the Meiji period by shining a spotlight on kanban and hikifuda.
As the face of a store, kanban are designed in a manner suiting the characteristics of different industries and their locations. In addition to the museum’s collection of kanban related to tobacco and smoking accessories, signs from a variety of industries from the collection of the Museum of Japanese Business History (housed at the National Institute of Japanese Literature) gathered by Shibusawa Keizo and others, as well as from the collection of the Showa Neon Takamura Kanban Museum, will be on display, and alongside original paintings of storefronts, the exhibition will also reveal storefront scenes from the Meiji period.
Meanwhile, hikifuda are single-sheet advertisements that are distributed to customers. In addition to hikifuda advertising shop openings and sales, as well as New Year’s hikifuda with multicolored prints of auspicious motifs in the museum’s collection, hikifuda made by fiction writers from the collection of advertising company manager Nishigaki Takeichi (housed at the Waseda University Library) will also be on display.
The exhibition will also feature advertising materials for “Hōtan” (a stomach medicine characterized by its minty scent), developed and sold by Morita Jihei, who gained a reputation for his unique medicine advertisements, Kishida Ginko’s “Seikisui” (Japan's first liquid eye drops), as well as marketing materials from Iwaya Matsuhei, Chiba Matsubei, Murai Kichibei, and others who competed in the tobacco advertising race, exploring the commercial innovations of the Meiji era.
※Almost all information is given in Japanese only.

[General admission fees]
General (Adults and university students)
individual:300yen

Children and pupils of primary, juniorhigh, and high schools
individual:100yen

Visitors over 65 years old
individual:100yen

※Free admission for up to 1 accompanying person with disabilities upon presentation of a disability certificate (Mirairo ID is acceptable).

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  Reel-shaped sign for thread shop
  National Institute of Japanese Literature

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  New Year Flyer for Tobacconist in Kyoto