The Tonbotama Exhibition 2020 is a special event taking place at the Kobe Lampwork Glass Museum until January 5th, 2021. The exhibition explores the beauty of these "dragonfly balls", or tonbotama, which are decorative balls made using a lampwork glass technique.
Tonbotama have been used for a variety of reasons over the years. Along with the simple joy of appreciating them for decoration's sake alone, they have also been used as amulets for protection and for trade purposes.
The event showcases tonbotama from several different glass artists, including Sachi Ishikawa, Ryo Ono, Hideya Uemura, and Kristen Frantzen Orr. Adult admission to the exhibition is 400 yen.
Getting there
The Kobe Lampwork Glass Museum is located 8 minutes walk from either Sannomiya Station or Motomachi Station.
For those who plan to drive to the museum, it's located 2 minutes from the Kyobashi IC on the Hanshin Expressway. Do note that there's no dedicated parking lot at the museum, but there are several paid lots in the surrounding streets.
