Emergency Museum / Japan: the Tokyo Fire Brigade Museum
The Fire Brigade Museum is officially called the Tokyo Fire and Disaster Prevention Information Center
It was inaugurated in 1992 as an educational facility where it is possible to fully understand the history and the importance of fire fighting as it promotes the safety of the city of Tokyo.
The Museum is divided over several floors and contains around 8000 relics from the history of the Fire Brigade, including firefighting materials and books, ancient documents, equipment, hand and engine fire pumps from the Meiji Era to the present day but also uniforms of various departments of Japan.
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Historic fire trucks on display in the Tokyo Fire Brigade Museum
Inside the basement there are seven active fire engines from the Taisho Era to the Heisei Era and its explained the transition from hand pumps to steam pumps up to the fire engines we know today.
Also on this floor there is the museum shop that sells souvenirs and various objects related to the Tokyo City Fire Brigade.
On the first floor there is a rescue helicopter active until 1982 which welcomes visitors right from the entrance and creates great curiosity and admiration in everyone.
In addition, you can watch the animation for disaster prevention and an introductory video of the firefighters inside the small theater.
The second floor is not accessible to visitors as it houses the offices of the Yotsuya Fire Department.
The third floor displays the most modern equipment and means used in fire fighting and in protecting the community from various types of natural disasters.
In this floor it’s also possible to learn about fire extinguishing and emergency activities through animations and modeling shows and also videos that introduce the countermeasures to take in case of natural disasters.
The fourth floor of the Tokyo Fire Museum: from the Meiji Era to the Taisho Era
The fourth floor focuses on the history of firefighting from the Meiji Era to the Taisho Era and how considerable progress was made in the early Showa Era through the modernization of its technology and equipment.
The story of the Fire Brigade is told by intertwining the customs of the different societies of those times.
The fifth floor illustrates the birth, the mechanisms and techniques of firefighting in the Edo period.
In the diorama that reproduces the streets of the Edo period, the appearance of the citizens and agents of the Fire Brigade of the time are reproduced in detail.
On subsequent floors, special, temporary and public exhibitions of the museum’s own collections and screenings of videos and films are often held. But also a reference library that holds books related to fire fighting.
Finally, in the disaster prevention room, the methods of intervention and prevention of various types of natural disasters are illustrated thanks to graphics and video displays.
From this room it’s also possible to admire Mount Fuji, including the center of Shinjuku and the Roppongi hills.
A stunning museum focused on teaching to the young generations the history of the city Fire Brigade, but also on the rules on how to act in case of natural disasters and wildfires.
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Source:
Tokyo Fire Department; Japan Visitor;