His name is Ding Dong

Good Morning from Tokyo. Today is the beginning of another day and another day closer to me being able to relax in hot springs. Just a few more days left before I reunite with my friends but before that happens I still have to continue to chaperone my siblings.

Yesterday would easily be the best day so far with the sibs. Probably because we shared a common interest today. That is today we got to visit the museum dedicated to Fujiko F. Fujio aka the man who created Doraemon.

Doraemon is to Asia like Mickey Mouse is to the Western hemisphere. The blue robot cat played a role in all of our childhood. So it is very fitting that me and my siblings were looking forward to seeing a museum that was focused on Doraemon and his creator.

To get there from Arakawa, we had to take the subway then transfer to a train line and travel for a hour outside of Tokyo. The Museum itself actually resides in the city of Kawasaki and is much smaller than Tokyo. As my sister would say it feels like it was in the middle of nowhere.

The ride there wasn't too bad if a bit long, however we actually arrived too early as our tickets was meant for the 2pm group, my bad. The attendant there was kind enough to give us some maps of the local area which highlights of attractions. Since we arrived early we decided to go find some lunch and followed the map to find some ramen (and yes, we've been eating it everyday). The location we found was called Ramen House (?)

It was honest to goodness traditional ramen for a change 😂

 

After the satisfying meal, we headed back to the museum and saw that a line has already built up to enter. Many of the guests were couples with their kids in tow. Although there were a few teenagers and lone visitors as well. And of course yours truly.

Like the Ghibli Museum, the Fujiko Museum didn't allow for any photos inside the exhibition but they did have a bunch of dioramas and life size statues outside for the guests to interact and take photos of.

Much of the exhibitions documented the life work and history of Fujiko and provided an insight into his work ethics and personal life. The Museum also provided the guests an audio guide in different languages which was nice since alot of the displays were in Japanese.

 After the exhibitions area, we exited to an indoor play area where we were greeted with giant statues of Doraemon filled with with gatcha balls. Many kids were running back and forth playing with the many displays and reading the available comic books by Fujiko. The area was also home to a theatre which, like the Ghibli Museum, played short films exclusive to the Museum. Every guest were able to view the short film.

On the roof of the building was a café that provided food and drinks themed after Fujiko's works. And on the main floor was a souvenir store. Needless to say my siblings bought alot of merch based

after our childhood hero.

It was already 6pm by the time we left. I guess the last few days have been exhausting for my siblings as they dozed off on the train back. In the end we finished off the day by going to a nearby restaurant near our apartment, the place seemed to be very popular with the locals and the menu was all in Japanese. But we had the foresight to take pictures of plastic displays outside. This would be the first time I ate curry on this trip 😅

We figured the trip to Hakone hotsprings was too much trouble and too expensive to warrant, which is a pity but what can one do? So instead we have decided to spend the next two days shopping and eating. So off to Ikebukuro today.