This Belongs in a Museum
Bringing you museum-approved grammatical errors and typos since 2010.
Oh, and sorry - I DO NOT FOLLOW BACK!
When traveling to Tokyo you’ll probably be bringing a lot of excessive baggage (figuratively or literally) with you. What better way to rid yourself of it than with a trip to the Ace World Luggage Museum (after you needlessly purchase some self-help books of course). Owned by Japan’s Ace luggage company (the world’s first producer of nylons bags in case you keep track of that sort of thing), the museum is located on the seventh floor of their corporate headquarters in the Asakusa district in Tokyo. The collection includes 600 examples of handbags, travel bags and trunks made not just from leather, but all different kinds of animal skin. So if you’re a member of PETA or something, look away! Besides the trunk covered with the black skins of 12 saltwater crocodiles, every endangered species is on display - antelope, zebra, hippopotamus, seal, elephant, buffalo, shark, eel and even aardvark. There are also a number of non-dead animal historic pieces in the museum, like a navy blue Panam flight bag made in the 1960s, a grey aluminum box with an orange Bakelite handle designed by the famous explorer and traveler Richard Halliburton and an even larger box that used by the Apollo 11 crew to store moon-rocks during their space journey. Most hotels keep luggage before you check in (or after you check out) but if there is a problem, I’m sure this museum wouldn’t mind storing it for you…or selling you another piece. And in case you’re keeping track, yes, we have been to another handbag museum before.
Not much different from your everyday fish market, the Kori no Suizokukan in Kesennuma, Japan, packs about 450 species of marine life frozen in large columns of ice bathed in blue light. It takes awhile for visitors to realize the specimens are not for sale, but are part of a frozen aquarium display. In the diorama, iced objects like bottles and flowers are on display as well. Anyway, this reminds me a lot of the Ice Museum in Turkey and that Ice Hotel in Alaska.
For over ten years Kori no Suizokukan has been flash-freezing the fish, which helps to not damage their appearance. To maintain the blocks of ice that preserves the collection, the internal temperatures of the aquarium reach -20 degrees Celsius (-2 degrees Fahrenheit). As a year-round tourist attraction, visitors are required to wear special suits and can only spend a few minutes inside, otherwise they will experience a severe feeling of pain. As someone who has lived through many bitterly Midwest American winters, all I gotta say is…I know the feeling. And gloves can only do so much.
On the 71st anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack let me tell you about another war memorial, the former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters (also known as the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum) on Okinawa. During World War II an elaborate underground series of hundred-long meter tunnels were built under a hill in Tomagusuku. On June 4, 1945, the U.S. 6th Marine Division landed and a battle ensued. Instead of surrendering, Rear Admiral Minoru Ota and members of his staff committed suicide. The U.S. Marines never retrieved the bodies and instead closed off the entrances. When it was finally unsealed over ten years later in the 1950s, the remains of over 2000 sailors were found. Blast scars from hand grenades are visible on the walls as well as farewell messages left by the dead. In 1970 the Tourist Development Board removed the remains of the soldiers and restored 275 of the original 450 meters of tunnels, including the commander’s office, storerooms, medical and staff rooms, and kitchen, and opened the site to the public. There is also a memorial monument set up near the entrance as well as a gift shop and park, everything you’d expect to find at a museum.
In honor of the London Olympic Games, which starts today with its official opening ceremony, let me tell you about the World’s First Sand Sculpture Museum that has been built in Japan. What does 100,000 years of accumulation of rock and mineral particles over 323 acres, the largest such dune in Japan, have to do with merry old England? Well, let me tell you. The Tottori Sand Dunes, about 100 miles northwest of Osaka, have had several temporary sculpture exhibits over the years, but they finally decided to turn into a real, permanent museum. The first regular exhibit (open between now and next January) was created by fifteen sculptors from around the world and pays homage to Britain’s culture and history with depictions of famous figures like Queen Elizabeth I, Charles Darwin and William Shakespeare. Buildings like Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace have also been recreated as well as the famous rainy lifestyle (check out those umbrellas, mate). Don’t bring around a cloud to rain on my Olympic parade. Actually please do. I’ll laugh.
When I was 9 or 10 years old my mom dressed me up as a hippie for Halloween. Looking back over twenty years later, I can’t think of anything more frightening. And what’s even scarier (well, in my mind anyway) is that a tie-dying museum exists in the world. I guess in Japan it’s called shibori, and in the town of Arimatsu where the museum is located, the technique dates back 400 years (the earliest known example of cloth tie-dyed is from the 8th century). So you’re telling me a bunch of old hippie burn-outs were hitchhiking around the globe back in the 17th century, or possibly even earlier? Why didn’t someone tell me? Yeah, I’m talking to you, Ms. Fleming, my high school history teacher…cuz I know you’re reading this.
A long time ago Arimatsu was a small village on the old Tokaido Highway. Its inhabitants made a living producing tie-dyed cotton cloth, selling their towels to passing travelers. Today the tradition lives on as more than 2,500 people are still involved in making shibori; more than 100 patterns are possible, with a single kimono requiring between 50,000 and 200,000 handmade stitches and taking 4 to 6 months to complete. Now that’s a piece of clothing! Don’t worry - you can make your own t-shirt, table cloth or handkerchief, which the museum will later send to you when it’s complete. But by that time you will no longer want the thing and it will end up in your next garage sale.
Unfortunately, a huge chunk of my childhood is missing in photo form so I can’t share my Halloween hippie past with you. So instead I will share someone else’s. Peace, man.
On this date in 1793, the Musée du Louvre (otherwise known as “Hey, let’s go to that Louv-ra place”, said by some American tourist) officially opened in Paris, becoming one of the world’s first museums. This tumblr likes weird things, so instead of focusing on the real Louvre like everyone else, I’m going to tell you about the fake, abandoned one in Japan. Yes, the Japanese like huge amusement theme parks, but sometimes they fail and what you’re left with is something like this…a ghost town of European architecture in the middle of an Asian country.
Known as “Ceramic Land”, this was where Arita and Imari ceramics were to be celebrated in all their European glory (if that makes any sense) but the place closed when it appeared nobody was interested. At this moment someone is still maintaining the lawns, but no one mans the ticket booths to collect fees from visitors. In a few years it is expected that the expensively manicured gardens will be left for the animals and vandals. Let’s go!
Thinking of a friend who is in Japan right now. A very long time ago this girl’s email address was hellokittywaffles. Don’t ask me why…we are weird people. As a matter of fact, when the earthquake hit Japan she was not shopping for Hello Kitty items but visiting a shrine. Because the trains, buses and highways were closed and cell service was down, she walked the three hours back to the hotel by her lonesome. So I dedicate this post to her, even though her sarcastic self wrote this in an email: “i am writing you from a crack in the middle of the earth…”
Japan doesn’t really have a Hello Kitty Museum (plenty of shops though). But there is a Sanrio Theme Park in Tama New Town, Tokyo, Japan. It includes an entertainment hall, boat rides, “the time machine of dreams”, plenty of restaurants, factories and plants as well as not one but three theaters. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always envisioned that one day I would see a live show featuring talking Hello Kitty heads. (sarcasm)
Anyway, enough with the bullshit sarcasm…I really hope everything is okay in Japan. An event like this shows humans are not in charge, the planet is.
After focusing on three museums in the United States, Christmas Museum Week now moves to the country of Japan. From 1994 to 2001, the Felissimo Christmas Museum operated in Hakkaido. It looks like the museum still has an on-line presence. What did I learn? That 1549 was the first recorded year of Japan celebrating the holiday.
P.S. Interesting to note that today is the Emperor’s birthday. I hope he gets some new clothes. (please, slap me in the face)
This picture of the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery captures Japanese tourists perfectly. Yep, that’s what they do.*
*Basing my opinion from working at several museums, specifically the architectural and art kinds. Sorry if I have offended anyone. I don’t mean to portray your country as photographer-challenged.
(Image by Jeni Yang)
Have a thing for parasites? Well, go visit the world’s only Parasite Museum next time you’re in Tokyo, Japan. The Meguro Parasite Museum explains the parasite/host relationship as it applies to all creatures on earth, like in the picture above, which is a dolphin’s stomach. Ready to eat some lunch?
