At Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura, visitors can experience life in the Edo period and participate in fun activities for the entire family.

fire tower - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Fire tower

Welcome to the start of our Nikko travel guide series and we’ll start off at Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura, a theme park built as an Edo period village replica. Our family had a blast learning about life in Japan during the Edo period, trying various activities, and enjoying the theatrics the park offered.

Here is the Just One Cookbook Nikko Travel Guide series below and we hope you’ll enjoy the journey with us.

Nikko Travel Guide

  1. Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura 日光江戸村
  2. Kinugawa Onsen 鬼怒川温泉
  3. Tobu World Square 東武ワールドスクウェア
  4. Nikko Tosho-gu 日光東照宮
  5. Places to visit in Nikko 日光
  6. Kegon Falls 華厳の滝
  7. Lake Chuzenji 中禅寺湖
  8. Oya History Museum 大谷資料館

Travel to the Past at Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura

town checkpoint - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Town checkpoint

Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura is a theme park located about 2.5 hrs north of Tokyo near Nikko. The name Edomura (江戸村) translates to Edo village. It’s different from the typical theme park as it is about life in the Edo period. The park is divided into 5 sections:

  1. Road to Edo
  2. Inn Town
  3. Market District
  4. Samurai Residence
  5. Ninja Village

Ready to time travel with us? Let’s go!

Road to Edo

Once you purchase the tickets, you will pass the town checkpoint (entrance gate) and travel down the road to Edo. The road to Edo has a number of replica structures along the side including a shrine, waterwheel house, and a guardhouse. The structures inside the theme park usually have both Japanese and English names. Additionally with the explanations for the purpose of the building and how they were utilized during the Edo period.

shrine - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Shrine

As you approach the town you can see many people dressed in Edo period clothing wondering about the town (both visitors and staff).

road to Edo - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Road to Edo
water mill house - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Watermill house
banya guardhouse - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Guardhouse
interior of guardhouse - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Interior of guardhouse

boy inside otori gate - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com

Inn Town

The Road to Edo leads into the Inn Town where there are a number of dining options as well as the fire brigade and swordsmith’s shop. Back in the 1700s, all the buildings were made of wood so the fire brigade played a very important role in daily life. Once a fire starts it is very difficult to put out. Almost every Edo-related museum we’ve been to in Japan has an exhibition on the importance of the fire brigade back in the days.

yakitori stand - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Yakitori stand

As visitors to Edo Wonderland, you could rent period clothing to walk around in character and photo services are also available to capture the memory.

photo studio - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Photo studio

Market District

After the Inn Town, the next section is the market district where one of the main performances takes place – The Oiran Courtesan Procession. It was so interesting to watch the procession as the Oiran Courtesan wears very tall geta (下駄) strolling down the main road with unique footwork.

Oiran Courtesan Procession - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Oiran Courtesan Procession

There are more dining options and souvenir shops in the market district. Additionally, there are scheduled performances inside some of the buildings.

At Wakamatsu-ya, visitors can watch a play about an aristocratic looking for love in the red-light district of Edo. The acting is in Japanese but it’s easy enough to understand from the actors’ expression and movement what’s the storyline. The actors also selected a random audience member to participate in the play. All the performances are family friendly and appropriate for all ages.

Oiran Courtesan Performance - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Oiran Courtesan Performance

Oiran Courtesan Performance inside wakamatsu-ya - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com

market district - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com

The market district at Edo Wonderland has both paid and free activities. Paid activities including shooting ninja stars, archery, and boat cruise. Free experiences vary from learning how to play on shamisen (three strings) to putting on Edo period makeup.

archery - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Archery target
children playing Shamisen three strings - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Shamisen (three strings)

make up being applied on children - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com

Dining Options at Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura

There are plenty of food options including soba, noodles, and rice dishes. The restaurants’ interior and exteriors are decorated based on Edo period structures.

kamameshi rice restaurant - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Kamameshi restaurant
soba restaurant - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Soba restaurant

interior of restaurant - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com

Our family enjoyed udon, dango, unagi over rice, and eel/shrimp over rice.

udon and dango - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Udon noodles and dango

The food was well prepared and delicious similar to other theme parks we’ve been to in Japan,

kamameshi with egg and shrimps over rice - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Kamameshi (eel and shrimps over rice)

Samurai Residence

Shortly after crossing the Nihon Bridge, you will arrive at the Samurai Residence area with the magistrate’s office, prison, Edo cultural museum, and Nyan-mage Theatre.

child on Nihon Bridge - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com

Nyan-mage Theater - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Nyan-mage Theater

In this area, visitors are allowed to browse through the authentic looking replica buildings.

Minamimachi Magistrates Office - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Minamimachi Magistrates Office
interior of Minamimachi Magistrates Office - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Interior of Minamimachi Magistrates Office

inside Minamimachi Magistrates Office - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com

The prison had information on how criminals were punished and tattooed during the Edo period.

a child with an actor inside the prison - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Inside the prison
Edo period tattoo punishment - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Edo period tattoo punishment explanation

Edo period criminal punishment - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com

There are exhibits on what technology and crafts are passed down to today from the Edo period. The Modern Edo-Tech Museum exhibits include makeup, cultural items, glassware, and knife making.

modern Edo-tech museum - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Information on Edo period makeup

woven baskets on a wall - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com

Ninja Village

Lastly, we caught the performance at Grand Ninja Theater. The theater performance was pretty exciting. Actors dressed in ninja clothing battling for 30 min with special effects, lights, and sounds.

Grand Ninja Theater - Nikko Travel Guide : Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura | www.justonecookbook.com
Grand Ninja Theater

Compared to Toei Kyoto Studio Park, our family enjoyed Edo Wonderland a lot more. The set and the buildings are certainly more authentic along with the food and activities. We had a great time and highly recommend stopping by for half a day if you are in the Nikko area and blast to the 1700s in Japan.

Nikko Travel Guide

  1. Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura 日光江戸村
  2. Kinugawa Onsen 鬼怒川温泉
  3. Tobu World Square 東武ワールドスクウェア
  4. Nikko Tosho-gu 日光東照宮
  5. Places to visit in Nikko 日光
  6. Kegon Falls 華厳の滝
  7. Lake Chuzenji 中禅寺湖
  8. Oya History Museum 大谷資料館

101 Places to Visit in Tokyo ebook

Introducing JOC Goods

JOC Goods, our new online shop, offering Japanese tableware and kitchenware, is now open. It is a natural extension of Just One Cookbook’s mission to teach home cooks how to prepare and enjoy delicious Japanese meals. We believe that beautifully plated food can bring joy and happiness to people’s lives.

Browse All Products

Subscribe
Notify of
6 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Thank you for sharing your entertaining experience at Nikko Edomura, Edo Wonderland. I have never heard of this interesting historical venue and would definitely like to visit there someday soon.
Enjoy your blog and your Japanese dishes tremendously.
Jenny

Your travel to Edo park is just excellent! We’ve been to Japan 6 times now but had not even heard of it’s existence. You covered it so interestingly, thank you very much.

Thank you so much for these travelogues.. next best thing to being there and I love the details. Hope you continue to have a wonderful summer.