Showakan Renewal

The Showa-kan is a national facility that preserves the memories of the war experienced by the Japanese people during the Showa era, and collects, displays, and exhibits historical materials and information related to the lives of the people during that time, passing on their hardships to future generations. It features displays themed around "the lives of the Japanese people before, during, and after the war."
 

This project involves the renewal of the epilogue, "Life in the Showa Era - A Showa 30s Experience Area," and has been developed in stages since the basic plan was established in 2023. This era, which saw the recovery from the end of the war and the rise of high economic growth, is presented as displays full of bright and exciting charm, along with the nostalgic charm of Showa retro.
displays space consists of a recreated house and an alleyway, designed to resemble an electronics store in a shopping district.
The electronics store is lavishly displaying the "three sacred treasures" of various manufacturers, which were highly coveted home appliances at the time. Numerous posters pasted on the wooden fence offer a glimpse into the social conditions and culture of the era. The alley leads to the store's backyard and veranda, where visitors can experience pre-electric water-related tasks through hand pump and hand-cranked washing machine simulations. The kamishibai storyteller in the square is performing the ever-popular "Golden Bat."
 

The silhouette panels of an electrician's family (father, mother, and child) will tell you about each of their lives from the 1950s when you hold your smartphone over them.

○ Enhancement of interactive displays
As a result of COVID-19 countermeasures, interactive displays were removed, diminishing the appeal of displays. This necessitated a new plan centered on a new concept and interactive displays.
Effective use of collected materials
The museum's collection materials, such as actual posters and electrical appliances, remained dormant in storage due to their lack of context within the overall narrative. In response to requests from visitors to make them publicly available, displays was needed that would maximize their value as historical documents while also prioritizing preservation.
〇 Adoption of the latest technologies, such as AR displays
In addition to the traditional displays style that primarily relies on actual artifacts, there was a demand for new displays that utilized the latest technology.

〇Settings for the electrical shop "Showa Electric"
We have created "Showa Electric," a recreation of an electrical appliance store from that era, to serve as a place to display various electrical appliances that symbolized and led a new era.
〇 Setting of the back alley "Poster Street"
We created an environment where posters are haphazardly pasted onto walls and fences, establishing a "poster street" where all kinds of posters can coexist.
〇Creation of new experiential displays
In addition to a simulation of a "hand-cranked washing machine" created using processed materials from the collection, and a "kamishibai video" edited with recordings of kamishibai storytellers from that era and actual materials, we have also implemented an augmented reality (AR) displays.

displays room realistically recreates the history of a particular era, something that cannot be fully conveyed through displays of actual materials alone. This allows visitors to more easily understand and experience the museum's displays purpose and the era it covers.