Sample Kobo (Food Sample Workshop)
SaveA museum and workshop in the town that made most of Japan's plastic food models.
Food samples, toys and appliances from the 1950s to the 1990s fill the rooms, and you can pick them up.
Note: the tempura session uses hot wax, so pre-school children cannot take part even with a parent beside them — it is for primary school age and up.
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Basics
- Fee：Two ways to pay. If you only look round, admission to the Retro Art Hall is ¥500 for anyone from high school age up, ¥300 for a primary or junior high school child, free below primary school age and free for wheelchair users, though a footnote adds that wheelchair users can see only part of the paid area; groups of twenty or more pay ¥400 and ¥200. If you make something, admission is included in the session price and you pay nothing extra — but anyone coming along who does not make something still pays admission. Session prices run in three bands (high school and up / primary and junior high / under primary age): spilt ice cream phone stand ¥1,500 / ¥1,300 / ¥1,100; spilt milk bottle stand ¥2,000 / ¥1,800 / ¥1,600; sweet tart memo stand the same; sushi phone-and-pen stand ¥2,400 / ¥2,200 / ¥2,000; tempura ¥3,000 / ¥2,800 and not available below primary school age. A second piece can be added at a lower rate — ¥1,100 for the ice cream, ¥1,600 for the milk bottle or the tart, ¥2,000 for the sushi, ¥2,600 for the tempura.■
- Hours：Open 10:00-17:00, closed only over the New Year period. It stays open through the Gujo Odori dance season and may extend its hours then. Telephone enquiries are taken 10:00-16:00.■
- Time needed：30 min
- Booking：Four of the five making sessions — the spilt ice cream phone stand, the spilt milk bottle stand, the sweet tart memo stand and the sushi phone-and-pen stand — take walk-ins. The tempura one must be booked ahead, and even then it can be turned down depending on how full the day is. Booking is by telephone (0575-67-1870, 10:00-16:00) or through Jalan; there is no booking form on the official site. The catch for anyone planning around a holiday: during Golden Week, Obon and three-day weekends advance bookings are not taken at all — you apply at the counter on the day. Groups of ten or more should phone; groups of twenty or more book by telephone and pay group rates.■Official booking site ↗
- Note: the tempura session uses hot wax, so pre-school children cannot take part even with a parent beside them — it is for primary school age and up. The other four sessions have no stated age limit.■
evidence & sources (2)
Gujo Hachiman's local industry is fake food: a group founded by a man from the town, Takizo Iwasaki, made most of what Japan uses. The workshop sits in a 150-year-old townhouse. Its Retro Art Hall holds samples, toys, appliances and magazines from the 1950s to the 1990s, all of it handleable. Five things can be made. A spilt ice cream phone stand, a milk bottle one, a sweet tart memo stand, sushi, and tempura poured as molten wax into hot water.
| Indoor / outdoor | Indoor | Everything is inside a 150-year-old townhouse — the display floors, the shop and the making room — with a small courtyard in the middle. Rain does not change the visit. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | samplekobo.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best-fit ages (guide)Extra info — guide only | Yes | The tempura session is for primary school age and up: it uses hot wax, and pre-schoolers cannot take part even with a parent beside them. The other four — spilt ice cream, spilt milk bottle, sweet tart, sushi — carry no stated age limit and are described as easy for children, with the sweet tart called the easiest of the set. Each takes 20 to 30 minutes. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | samplekobo.com |
| Stroller friendly | Not checked yet | ||||
| Diaper changing table | Not checked yet | ||||
| Nursing space | Not checked yet | ||||
| Family restroom | Not checked yet | ||||
| Diaper disposal bin | Not checked yet | ||||
| Kids' toilet seat & step stool | Not checked yet | ||||
| English support | Not checked yet | ||||
| Outside food allowed | Not checked yet | ||||
| Elevator | Not checked yet |