The Traces in Oi — Nikon, the Town, and the People
Special Exhibition
Dates: October 30, 2025 (Thu) – March 21, 2026 (Sat)
Nikon Museum will hold the special exhibition “The Traces in Oi — Nikon, the Town, and the People” from October 30, 2025 (Thu) to March 21, 2026 (Sat).
Nikon’s history has been woven together with the town of Oi for over a century since 1918, the year after its founding.
In this exhibition, you can explore the history that Nikon and Oi have experienced together, products and technologies that were developed here, and various stories which Nikon has woven together with the town. You can experience people's thoughts and events coming alive through maps and photos from that era, real products, and videos.
We hope this exhibition will serve as an opportunity for each of you to become familiar with the story of Nikon and the town, and that you look forward to Nikon’s future endeavors.
* The photo of the Oi Plant and townscape is from “100 Years of Nikon Vol. Ⅱ”
Major exhibits
History of Nikon and Oi
This introduces changes of the town around Nikon from the Taisho to Reiwa eras through a number of maps*1. In addition to Nikon’s history, you can enjoy seeing how the city has changed over time, such as opening of railways, conversion of the Tachiai River to a culvert*2, and road rearrangement.
- *1Created by editing Topographic Maps provided by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI).
- *2Conversion to a culvert: Burying rivers and waterways underground.
In addition to the history of Nikon, this introduces various episodes of Nikon with Oi, the town of connections, stories of people's thoughts, and stories about products and technologies. Furthermore, products developed in Oi are also exhibited, such as Tilting Level E, Nikon Model I small-sized camera, Microscope Model J, and the Nikon F SLR camera.
Memories of Nikon and Oi
What did this area look like in the past? Through these photos, we hope you will enjoy the changes across generations while feeling a shared sense of nostalgia, and let your thoughts drift toward the future.
Photo spot
A photo spot which recreates the scenery of Oi Plant. You can take memorial photos while feeling the atmosphere and history of that time.