【Adachi Mystery Hunter】 Good old Celluloid Doll and Steam Locomotive discovered in Tatsunuma

An interesting information came to me.
It is that in Tatsunuma area of Adachi, you can see "rare things", which is familiar to older people, and is novel to young people.

Although Tatsunuma seems to be an unfamiliar area to those who are not locals, I wonder if there is such a thing to please everyone regardless of age or sex...?

Okay, let's go to Tatsunuma in order to see "rare things"!

Mr. Hirai, the last celluloid doll maker in the country

I fluttered the place where there are "rare things" by the information, but I can not find anything like that.

Since I felt hesitant about roaming in the residential area, I dared to dash to a house I guess so. Then, someone who seemed kind answered the door, so I felt relieved.​ ​

While talking, I found out he was just the last celluloid doll maker in Japan, Mr. Eiichi Hirai...!

"What made you keep making celluloid dolls even now?" I said.

Mr. Hirai said "The celluloid dolls were at their best from the latter half of the 1945s to the 1955s, Hirai Toy Factory mainly produced toys, but which were gradually replaced by the soft vinyl and vinyl chloride toys. As a result, they were not sold well, and my father and I decided not to make celluloid dolls any more. After that I was mainly making lucky items such as sea breams attached to the rake, but the desire to make celluloid dolls once again was getting stronger. "

I said, "But your business must have been hard, even if you made them again?"

Mr. Hirai said "Actually, it was the internet that changed such a situation. I have used the Internet ever since Windows 95 access system was the dial-up connection. I think it was around 2002, when I posted "Celluloid Doll Miko" that I made on BBS (bulletin board) of nationwide doll lovers, there was a big response. "

I said, "Have you already made full use of the internet for a long time!?"

Mr. Hirai said, "I also made​ ​Home page​ ​by myself at that time, I have written blog every day for more than 15 years (laugh). With the Internet, I was able to tell the charm of celluloid dolls to everyone in the whole country that had never had contacts so far. Even now, there are about 10 to 15 orders per month. "

I said, "The latest tool revived old dolls, didn't it?"

Mr. Hirai "The keyword, "Good old and new" is always included in business cards, etc. in order to put in the meaning that the latest internet at that time was able to revive old good things. Although the current "Miko" is a colorful and is wearing various clothes, originally, it was naked. As a dress-up doll, I wanted to put on clothes somehow fitting the size of "Miko." Even though I could not find it easily, I finally found the site,​ ​​ ​​ ​"Secret Garden"​ ​​ ​where the current her clothes were made on the Internet. "

I said, "Dramatic, isn't it? The Internet connected the nationwide doll lovers with the celluloid doll that was born more than 50 years ago and was about to disappear!"

Mr. Hirai "I'd write today's interview on my blog (laugh)"

>> Click here for Hirai Toy Factory "Celloid Dream" homepage

A mysterious station in the residential area ... ....?

I was surprised that in such a residential area, there was only one celluloid doll maker in Japan, and the story about Celluloid Doll Miko which has been loved against the current of the times, was also impressive.
Imagining the sight that children played with celluloid toys in the early Showa period, and then I left Hirai Toy Store.

When I was headed for another place where "rare things" are said to be in Tatsunuma, I don't know why, but there was a station signboard in a common peaceful residential area.
There is written "Adachi Steam Locomotive Museum".
This must be "rare thing." No doubt about it! Let's solve the mystery immediately.

When entering, mini SL is displayed in front of me.
Although the size is small, SL has been reproduced completely in detail, and I felt as if I became a giant.​ ​

When I had a talk with a person who is a curator, he told me that "Adachi Steam Locomotive private museum" opened in April 2013.

"We have displayed nine Live Steams (locomotives that actually run with coal) and five battery cars in the museum. All of them were produced by my father. At any rate he loved to make things, and was especially good at electrical things because he used to work at an electrical industry. He thought if he made a locomotive, he could ride after completion. So he studied it by himself while reading books, and stayed in a warehouse all day after buying various materials. The first live steam was completed in 1962."​ ​

All Mini-SLs in "Adachi Steam Locomotive Museum" were actually produced by a curator's father ... ...!
Moreover, it is a great surprise they can actually run on the railroad tracks.

"When I was a child, I used to ride a live steam my father made after laying the railway tracks about 50 meters on the road in front of my house (laugh). Then people gathered from my neighborhood, so I was driving a live steam while carrying them despite a first grade schoolboy. My father produced a total of 40 live steams and battery cars over 50 years. Now he is 92 years old, I began to think it was a waste to leave them as they were. I have been asked to some events to take children on locomotives since 15 years ago, but it was affected by the weather, and moreover it was hard to carry them. So I hope that I could display and drive them at all times. That is why I opened this museum."

As he has never driven a live steam that runs with coal by himself, so only battery cars are available in the museum.​ ​
On the second floor, valuable goods related to steam locomotives such as coins, stamps and cards collected by a curator are displayed.

"I decided to collect things related to the steam locomotive so that visitors can enjoy it. Although coins and stamps were originally my collection, if there were unusual items I purchased them at auction, and there are a few foreign-made as well. For about a first year and a half after opening, most visitors were neighbors, so I hoped people who love steam locomotives could come to see from all over the country, I started my blog. Nowadays, the number of visitors who came a long way is increasing, and the number of blog viewers has also increased from 200 to 300. "

It is exactly the same way as Mr. Hirai that he used internet to introduce the charms of the steam locomotive to people all over the country and to communicate with the steam locomotive lovers.
Another "rare thing" in Tatsunuma was "Adachi Steam Locomotive Museum" where you can experience a steam locomotive that can not be easily touched now.

>> Adachi Steam Locomotive Museum blogs from here
※Please see the blog for access information and opening hours.

A town imbued with Showa Retro, Tatsunuma

I was born in the Showa era, but it was the late Showa, there were few opportunities to actually touch steam locomotives and celluloid dolls. However, in Tatsunuma, there are still things and people who colored the era, and they are still quite lively.

In this survey, I felt very nostalgic feeling, but at the same time I strongly felt that this culture and history should be taken over in 10 years and 100 years since I was born in the Showa era.

I can never say that Mr. Hirai and Mr. Noda are young, but both of them spread the charms of their works on the internet to all over the country with their enthusiasm to let people know it. I was deeply interested in their common point.​ ​

Tatsunuma was a town imbued with Showa retro, which drew attention from the whole country.