Megane Museum
A museum of eyewear from the Edo period on, facing a shop of 3,000 frames.
piggybackjapan.com
Megane Museum
SaveA museum of eyewear from the Edo period on, facing a shop of 3,000 frames.
The workshop combines acetate pieces, the material eyeglass frames are made of, into a face-shaped keyring.
How was it with your kids?
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- ElevatorElevator：none
- Stroller OKStroller friendly：not checked
- RentalStroller rental：not checked
- NursingNursing space：with conditionsconditions
- ChangingDiaper changing table：not checked
- Diaper binDiaper disposal bin：not checked
- Family WCFamily restroom：not checked
- Kids' toiletKids' toilet seat & step stool：not checked
- Own foodOutside food allowed：none
- EnglishEnglish support：not checked
Green = we confirmed it. Grey = not checked yet. Grey with a line through = the place does not have it.
Near here
Worth a look before you go
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
Seven hours at the bench: making one-of-a-kind glasses in Sabae
An hour-by-hour record of 10:00 to 17:00. No meals in the building, so you go out at lunch. Arms ache for days after.
makingthingsnews.com2024
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
Fukui: taking the kids to the wonderfully niche Megane Museum
A fridge in the nursing room, a bin by the changing bed, parking for maybe 100 cars. The whole visit took an hour.
kotokototoyama.info2024
Japanese · opens translatedGuide
What is actually inside Sabae's Megane Museum (part two)
Sabae Sweets downstairs sells more than sweets. The upstairs cafe pours Tachibana-ya coffee, cakes change weekly.
mediall.jp2023
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
Megane Museum and Seiren Planet (day four)
Hapi-Line Fukui from Fukui to Sabae, then 10 minutes on foot. Megane Street signs start in the station underpass.
4travel.jp2024
Megane Museum · Links & reads ▾
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Basics
- Fee：Admission is free. Megane de Collage, the keyring workshop, is 2,000 yen including tax - and for children in school years one to three that buys one keyring made by parent and child together, not one each. The full glasses-making class starts at 28,000 yen including tax (a shortened course is 3,300 yen more), lenses sold separately, and takes about two months before the finished frame is posted to you. Cards (VISA, JCB, Mastercard, Diners, Amex, DC, UnionPay, debit) and PayPay and LINE Pay are all accepted.■■■■
- Hours：Everything opens at 10:00, but the building closes in four stages: the Megane Shop at 19:00, the workshop, the Megane Museum and Sabae Sweets at 17:00, and the Museum Cafe at 16:00. Come for the museum and you have until 17:00, not 19:00. Closed Wednesdays and over the New Year, but open when a Wednesday falls on a public holiday and through Obon, 13-16 August.■■■
- Time needed：60 min
- Booking：Walking in is free and needs no booking. The two making sessions are different things and both need arranging. Megane de Collage, the keyring one, costs 2,000 yen for about an hour and is booking-preferred: the workshop page says book through the website by the day before, while the FAQ says the web form closes three days ahead and the last three days are by phone only, so treat three days ahead as the safe line. Four places per hour, at 10:00, 13:00 and 15:00. It is open to children from school year one only: the glue is a solvent, so preschool children can neither join nor enter the workshop, and children in years one to three make one keyring together with a parent. The full glasses-making class is booking-only, six days ahead, for ages 13 and over, and runs Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Groups of ten or more must book ten days ahead for the museum itself.■■■■Official booking site ↗
evidence & sources (4)
- Official: Nursing space, Outside food allowed, Stroller access notes
- Official: Nursing space, Outside food allowed
- Official: Elevator, Stroller access notes
- Official: Stroller access notes
- Official: Elevator
- Official: main site
The museum is on the entrance floor, opposite the shop, so no stairs are needed to reach it. Its cases hold spectacles from the Edo period through the Showa era, frame-making tools from the Taisho era, and a collection of celebrities' glasses. Photographs are fine; touching the exhibits is not. The making sessions happen in the upstairs workshop, and stairs are the only way up. Sign in and pay at the shop downstairs first. The workshop admits children from school year one, since the glue is a solvent.
| Stroller friendly | Not checked yet | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diaper changing table | Not checked yet | ||||
| Nursing space | Yes (1) | One nursing room. Nothing is stated about hot water or a changing table in it. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | megane.gr.jpmegane.gr.jp |
| Family restroom | Not checked yet | ||||
| Diaper disposal bin | Not checked yet | ||||
| Kids' toilet seat & step stool | Not checked yet | ||||
| Elevator | No | No lift. The shop, the museum and Sabae Sweets are all on the ground floor, but the workshop and the Museum Cafe are on the first floor and the stairs are the only way up. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | megane.gr.jpmegane.gr.jp |
| Indoor / outdoor | Not checked yet | ||||
| Outside food allowed | No | Eating and drinking are not allowed inside except in the lobby and the cafe. The whole building is non-smoking, and pets are not admitted. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | megane.gr.jpmegane.gr.jp |
| English support | Not checked yet | ||||
| Steps & slope caution | Not checked yet | ||||
| Child switch (rider swap) | Not checked yet | ||||
| Official family-friendly certificationExtra info — guide only | Not checked yet | ||||
| Best-fit ages (guide)Extra info — guide only | Not checked yet | ||||
| Crowding (guide)Extra info — guide only | Not checked yet | ||||
| Quietness (guide)Extra info — guide only | Not checked yet | ||||
| Lost-child supportExtra info — guide only | Not checked yet | ||||
| Stroller access notesExtra info — guide only | Yes | About ten minutes on foot from Sabae station on the Hapi-Line Fukui railway (the same line the official pages sometimes still call JR - it passed from JR to Hapi-Line Fukui in March 2024); the walk goes through an underpass by the station and then straight along Megane Street, crossing Route 8. From Fukui station it is about fifteen minutes by train, from Tsuruga about thirty-five. By car it is roughly two minutes from the Sabae interchange, and some car navigation systems list the place as Megane Kaikan rather than by its museum name. Nothing is stated about parking. Inside, the shop, museum and sweets counter are all on the ground floor; the workshop and cafe on the first floor are reached only by stairs. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | megane.gr.jpmegane.gr.jpmegane.gr.jp |
Not checked yet (8)
Indoor / outdoor, Steps & slope caution, Child switch (rider swap), Official family-friendly certification, Best-fit ages (guide), Crowding (guide), Quietness (guide), Lost-child support