It has been a very rainy week. While some parts of Japan had bad flooding, it has not been a problem where we live. On the contrary, we experienced five blissful days of overcast skies and cool temperatures. On Sunday, it was almost chilly with a high of 70 F. These are ideal summer running conditions for me, and squeezed in as many runs as I could.
E's summer camp ended last week, so she has been home with me. Because of the summer holidays, the rain, and limited entries due to Covid, it has been nearly impossible to reserve tickets for age-appropriate museums, zoos, and aquariums. I was looking up possible places to go and came across the Tokyo Toy Museum. It was perfect: age-appropriate, interactive, not too far, and available reservations for this week.
Although the Toy Museum is close to our home, it is not really walking distance, especially not with unpredictable rain. This was not a problem, as E has been asking to ride the city bus. The buses are not quite as prompt as the trains. By which I mean they are sometimes two minutes late whereas the trains usually arrive right on schedule. Riding the bus with E in Tokyo reminded me of riding CTA buses, which we did often. It took me back to riding the 72 North Ave. bus, which would sometimes be delayed for 22 minutes only for four buses to arrive at the same time. This is one thing I will not miss.
We arrived after just a few stops. The neighborhood, though not far, was completely different. This is the wonderful, unique thing about Tokyo - you can get lost, literally and figuratively, just a few steps away from home. The museum is in an old building formerly used as a public school and built before World War II. Each of the classrooms housed a different exhibit.
We first registered for toy-making workshop. While waiting for the workshop to begin, we explored the wooden Toy Forest room, made of Japanese cypress and filled with wooden toys and play structures. There was a wooden ball pit with hidden acorns and wooden squirrels.
Then it was time to make a toy. We were given the choice between making a necklace or a wheel that you could roll with a fan. E chose the wheel. The kids decorate two paper plates, cut along specified lines, and fuse the plates together to create a wheel. I forgot to take a photo, but E had a lot of fun (mostly with decorating).
After the workshop, we went to the traditional Japanese toys exhibit. Although there is an English guide, I think she would have gotten more out of this exhibit with her father, as I had no idea what anything was. E most enjoyed the playacting room, which had a toy shop, toy kitchen, miniature-sized traditional Japanese house (this was amazing, as it was incredibly detailed, down to the cast-iron kettle for tea), musical instruments, and more.
Our last exhibit was one displaying toys from around the world. This was the most interesting one to me, likely because it is also targeted towards older kids. In addition to exhibits, the room had shelves with toys and board games and little tables with chairs, set up cafe-style, where kids can try out the games themselves. There was also a beautifully retro foosball table.
We did not see all the rooms because E was getting tired and we had a bus to catch. While the museum has a nursing room and a room dedicated for babies, it had no cafe or eating area, so we had to leave for lunch. Anyways, less is sometimes more with little kids and museums. E said she had a lot of fun and wanted to return. I thought it was a beautiful and well-designed museum. The adaptive reuse of the building and all the wooden toys lent the museum a deeply nostalgic quality. We hope to visit again soon!
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