When you think of Sakai City due south of Osaka city, you may only think of those key-shaped burial sites that they're famously known for (not much to see irl unless you can see them from the air).
But Sakai is also pretty well known for their knives. There are quite a few artisan knife shops if you care to walk around and explore the city. But it is a big city and like any big city, they don’t just specialize in just one thing. Which is why the Sakai Plaza of Rikyu and Akiko exists, in dedication to Sen no Rikyu and Yosano Akiko during the Azuchi Momoyama Period. Because of its vast history and cultural resources, this building sits as a bit of a multi-purpose museum to promote Sakai along with its history. It offers tea ceremony experiences amongst many things.
Right now until September 4th, 2022, you can visit the museum and check out a small Monster Hunter exhibit. The exhibits hosts swords and costumes from the newest Switch game Monster Hunter Rise.
The exhibit is 800 yen, and it is quite small. I would say the effort to get there and pay for the entry would depend how much of a diehard fan of the game you are.
I don't really play Monster Hunter myself. But I have in the past and I can see the charm of it. I'm just more of a casual gamer who likes story more than anything, so I personally didn't see the appeal of Monster Hunter. But I do like going to see these art installations and stuff. I also just happened to live pretty close to the museum, so I just thought “meh, why not”?
When you enter the Monster Hunter area, you're immediately greeted by the outfits from the game:
I personally would lvoe to try one of these on, but my boyfriend pointed out that it would probably take ages to put them on. I don't know, they all look pretty darn cool to try on!!
Their main attraction is this sword from the game.
I'm guessing it's crafted to scale because it is HUGE. And extremely beautiful. Don't know how practical that is in a real monster fight... but I suppose practicality isn't a specialty in this game (seeing how from of those weapons are).
As you can see, there's also some concept art copies on the boards there. But otherwise, that's sort of the extent of this exhibit.
The other thing you can do is pose yourself next to the campfire:
There's two more swords outside of this room on display:
I really wished this was a bit bigger and had more concept art on display at the very least, but I think this museum makes for a good stop for people who are visiting the city for more of a historical tour. There are no shortages of cultural museums in the area.
There's also a pretty nice looking Starbucks located next to this museum if you just want to have a chill day with a coffee.