I put the call out to the park mommas on Line and one of the moms responded that she wanted to go with us. We would meet right when the museum opened at 10 am.
After my son's singing lessons (via FaceTime with a beloved friend from back home), we headed out toward the museum. It was already hot outside, but at least it was a nice day. As we rode, my son sang to me.
We got there before it opened and, in true Tokyo style, there was already a line. Our friend was there. The staff were asking everyone in line to fill out a short form regarding demographics. My friend filled out the form for all of us.
Although the museum is free, we were given passes that we were told needed to be placed on the front of our shirts. This confused me until my friend explained that we were actually in the office building of the studio. The museum takes up the first floor and all the other floors were the business. There are separate entrances, but better safe than sorry.
Just inside the doors is a lovely courtyard featuring a cat statue in a fountain. Pero is the mascot of Toei Animation after staring in their first major film release back in 1969. He greets visitors with short songs and accompanying water show, which basically consists of water shooting straight up into the air, but it delighted my son nonetheless.
As we entered the building we were greeted with several huge screens showing clips of different animations. My eyebrows immediately raised when I recognized some of their work - Sailor Moon and Dragonball! I've never actually seen either of the shows, but they are very familiar to me and I was super excited. Any time I have familiarity or some bit of knowledge I am overjoyed.
The museum is a lobby that has been transformed into a museum. It isn't very big, but they very interesting things in the room. Several were interactive, but most of the exhibits had signs forbidding photographs.
At one end of the big hall was a second huge screen. This screen wasn't showing clips. Instead it was an interactive screen. There were small pictures of all the various animations the studio had created over the years, including Pero, Sailor Moon, and Dragonball, floating around the screen. People could touch the images and it would increase in size and provide a short description of the animation. I quickly saw the English button at the top of each blown up image. Some of the animations allowed patrons to see the theme song or end credits of the show. My son, his friend, my friend, and I all touched and touched, each in our own little worlds. My friend later reported that she was taken back to her childhood hearing the music from various productions. I wish my husband could have joined us at this point, because I think he would have felt the same way.
The other end of the hall was more playroom than museum. There was a shallow ball pit, a huge floor puzzle, child-sized fabric blocks, a reading area filled with books, and a toy area where kids could play with toys that were sold in the gift shop.
Soon we found ourselves back out in the courtyard where there was a chalk wall for the kids to draw on. While my son's friend enjoyed drawing things, my son preferred to clean the wall with a wet eraser. I thought the boys were done with the museum, but suddenly they wanted to go back inside. They wanted to look at everything again and again. They saw and explored everything in the museum multiple times. For the next two hours, the boys played and absorbed and enjoyed themselves.
The museum was much smaller than I thought. There was quite a bit that didn't appeal to me. Yet, it was so enthralling for my son. I loved watching him get so excited about something new. I loved even more watching him tell his dad all about it at dinner. His eyes lit up as he described various things at the museum - especially the interactive screen and the chalk wall.
We decided we want to go back again when they change the exhibits in the new year. I'm sure it will enthrall for a second time as much as it did the first time.
No comments:
Post a Comment