Entry Pass to Rokko Forest Sound Museum

May 2019 We absolutely loved this place. Not that easy to get to, unless you happen to be on Mt. Rokko already. Train, bus, cable car, and another bus. Of course, they all work and feed into each other almost effortlessly but it still takes a couple of hours to get there from Osaka or Kobe. The museum itself has a rather limited collection of music boxes and a more impressive collection of large musical instruments that play themselves. The highlight, though, and main attraction for us, was the concert, or performance, of the instruments, that was happening just as we got there. We rushed to the second floor and were immediately enchanted by the lovely sounds of self-playing instruments from another century. The room was packed and equally enthralled. As a birthday boy that month, I was even allowed to turn the handle on one of them. All too soon the performance was over. The crowd thinned, but there was another, different, performance in 15 minutes. We spent the interval examining some of the instruments up close (no touching!). Another concert, fewer people this time. Another pause for us to have an up-close look, another concert. And so it went on all afternoon. We wished they were open later. There is a garden, a pretty one, with outdoor music boxes and an over-priced but cute cafe. There was an extensive gift shop, where you could evn order your own music box, made on site. But the concerts were clearly the main event. We loved it. They had to throw us out.