Advertising Museum Tokyo

The Advertising Museum in Tokyo was set up in December 2002 by Yoshida Hideo Memorial Foundation, marking the 100th birth anniversary of late Hideo Yoshida, the fourth president of Dentsu and the father of Japan's advertising industry. The museum houses a detailed record of the achievements of Hideo Yoshida as well as numerous ancient and modern day commercials, not only of Japan but also of the world.

The museum has a collection of around 135000 advertisements, right from the Edo period. Most of the advertisements displayed over here are in the form of woodblock prints, pamphlets and handbills.

The Advertising Museum is a two-storied building. One can get complete information about the museum from the information desk located at its entrance. The museum has two grand and huge exhibition halls. There is also an audio-visual room where a large number of conferences and seminars are held. The audio-visual room is equipped with all the modern gadgets and latest technological facilities. The AD Information room has a large number of television screens where they can see different types of radio and television commercials. You can use the ADMT Intranet System to get all sorts of advertising related information.

The biggest feature of this fantastic museum is the LED Wall. This wall displays the advertisement copy of nearly 110 award winning advertisements, especially those that have won the prestigious Tokyo Copywriters Club Awards. Another major feature of this museum is the AD Library . It is the only library in Japan that is devoted to the marketing and advertising industry of the country. This library was established in the year 1965 and is maintained by the Yoshida Hideo Memorial Foundation. The library has a huge collection of books approx. 12,000 (Japanese) and 2,700 (foreign), along with 160 titles of magazines, mainly on advertising and marketing. You can browse through the wide collection of books found over here or surf the internet to get all sorts of information related to advertising.

The Stair Hall, that leads one to the exhibition halls found on level B2, shows numerous colorful visual images. The museum has two exhibition halls. Exhibition Hall no.1 is divided into two distinct areas. The area on the right displays Edo paintings, where one can get to see advertisements. The area also displays numerous artifacts belonging to the pre and the post war period. The left side of the hall is adorned with replicas of newspapers, book covers, magazines and photographs dating back to the 20th century. Exhibition Hall no. 2 is however reserved for exhibitions. A large number of events are held in the museum. The CLIO Awards was one of the major events that were held over here.

The Advertising Museum Tokyo is open on all days and closed on Sundays and Mondays. The visiting hours are from 11:00 a.m. 6:30 p.m. from Tuesday to Friday, while on Saturday and holidays the visiting hours are from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The visiting hours of the library are also the same. Entry to this museum is free.

Getting to this museum is simple and easy. You can take a train to the Shinbashi station from where it is a five minutes walking distance to the museum. You can also take a train to the Shiodome station from where it takes one minute to arrive over here. Tourists can also come over here by car through the Metro expressway.

The Advertising Museum Tokyo is indeed one of the most amazing tourist attractions of the city. The museum gives one a complete idea about Japanese advertising and the perfect place to see some of the best advertisements that the world ahs ever produced.