It was fitting that on our last full day in Tokyo we visited the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. That’s it’s full name, but it’s so long the Japanese call it Muraikan for short, which means ‘future.” Given its focus, it’s most appropriate. We were hosted by their international outreach team and their director, Dr. Mamoru Mohri, who did two missions on the space shuttle.
The museum opened in 2000 in a classy contemporary building and is full of light with an energetic vibe and crowds of people. This is spring break week, and there was a long line at the ticket booth outside and masses of young children in the special exhibit on the first floor which was all about co-creation and the linkages and connections between technology and art.
In the entrance lobby (this area only is free admission), you can sit on a bench or a lounger and gaze upon a large replica of planet Earth that is suspended from the ceiling, changes frequently, and is made up of LED panels. You can also walk the spiral ramp that takes you closer to it. It is amazing and brings home the interconnectedness of all of us.
Other floors included a relatively new space for very young children, a cafe with tables of three different heights and sizes (little ones for kids), and such exhibits as how the brain works, life in 2050 in a model city, a deep sea submersible that you can climb into, and a big attraction, a female android, and the robot ASIMO created by Honda. ASIMO gives performances three times a day that include it moving in a variety of ways, jumping, talking (Japanese and English transcriptions are on a wall screen), and even singing. ASIMO was quite something to watch and hear and the area was packed with visitors.
As we toured the museum, we encountered a volunteer (in an orange vest) and later a science communicator (white vest). Muraikan has 600 volunteers and 50 science communicators in addition to other staff. About 1.4 million people visit each year, and the museum offers a full range of science workshops and other activities. They also provide lab space for researchers from other institutions for several years at a time. The labs are open to the public at set times, and Dr. Mohri commented that not only were visitors impacted by seeing “real” scientists up close; the scientists themselves were changed.
To round out our day, we strolled in the lovely Japanese garden behind the New Otani Hotel. This is an extremely old and historic garden and when Mr. Otani was building the hotel on the adjacent land, he directed that the garden be retained and maintained. It rambles up and down along stone steps with a pond, benches and a bright red lattice bridge, an oasis midst the city’s bustle.
Now, time to say, “sayonara, Tokyo.” It’s been great!
