Day 4 in Tokyo: After a morning spent inline skating, woodworking and generally playing at the Jido Kaikan in Shibuya, we took the Ginza line from Shibuya to Ueno. Ueno Park houses a number of museums and the Ueno Zoo. The park itself is a nice place to stroll. However, our destination for the afternoon was the National Museum of Nature and Science.
I wasn’t expecting too much but my sister had said many good things about it. Her older son is into fossils and he loves this museum. After visiting it, I would recommend it too. The displays and exhibits are creative and beautiful. One of the more fascinating exhibits at the museum was the display of intestines of different animals. One of them was of a whale and another of a cow. You read about how long your intestines are but until you see it laid out, I don’t think you really appreciate how much of it is packed into your body.
The museum has a large collection of dinosaur skeletons and fossils that will mesmerize many kids. Our girls were just mildly interested…but my younger one loved being part of the exhibit on human evolution! At the end of a long line of humans at different stages of development, is an empty display, which one could walk into and become the ‘modern man’ exhibit. She thought it was hilarious!
Our visit wasn’t without some excitement, if you could call it that. We were all resting on a bench when my youngest calls softly out to me. I look over and her arm is stuck in a broken metal slats piece at the end of the bench. It had swallowed all of her elbow and more. Thank goodness my husband was right there and he was able to pry open the metal slats wide enough to pull her little arm free. Yikes! Glad it wasn’t any more serious than a very reddened arm.
The museum has a very nice gift store. We spent a lot of time there – it’s a great place to find gifts for kids back home. The museum charges JPY 600 for adults but children up to high school is free.
http://www.kahaku.go.jp/english/
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