Museums

 When we visit new places, we like to find small, unusual museums. They are much easier to visit since their small size forces them to focus on something unique. The bonus is that you don't need 7 hours of walking to get through them.

This was from the Origami Museum in Tokyo. They weren't having any demonstrations or classes when we were there. The whole thing was about the size of a two-car garage.

Right after the Origami Museum, we found a very nice coffee shop. The owner roasted and sold his own coffee and was thrilled to have someone to practice his English on.

This gentleman was demonstrating a "trick box" to us. He designs and builds them. The trick is to figure out how to open the box! This store/museum was at the Samurai Gate in the Lake District.

This is one of the boxes in the museum.  They also have some "trick boxes" which are full-blown furniture. Desks, chests of drawers, coffee tables, etc. can all have secret compartments with NO key. Jim actually figured out one of the displays and opened the secret drawer!

Here is the one the craftsman was demonstrating to us.

We visited the Fire Museum in Tokyo.

As you can see from the toy fire engine in the back, this was a "kid friendly" museum.

They had some very nice historical engines from long ago. The horses weren't alive.

The kids got to dress up as fire-fighters.

Jim also got to dress up as a fire-fighter. This was done on a computer simulator.

Alonda fulfilled a childhood dream to play dress up!

This museum used to be home of the founder and owner of the Asahi beer brand. It is used now to display his personal collection of art.

The house is quite large by Japanese standards.

This is the water garden in the back of the house. 

This is the view from the balcony of the house/museum.

Alonda and Janet (one of the fellow tourists from England) had tea on the balcony.