Yoyogi Park and Earth Day Market

Today's our wedding anniversary so when my wife suggested she wanted to go and visit the Earth Day Market in Yoyogi I had no choice but to go along.

After negotiating Tokyo's most recent addition to its already sufficient underground network, the Fukutoshin Line, we arrrived at Omotesando station. Stepping out of the station into the Saturday crowds was like arriving in some foreign country, so many affulent foreign faces of all nationalities were swarming the streets doing whatever it is that one does in Omotesando.

...I felt quite out of place.

The Earth Day Market was located round the back of one of the old Olympic Stadiums and comprised of two rows of stalls. It had a farmer's market type feel and alongside the expected offering of seasonal vegetables there were stalls selling organic cotton clothing, organic wine (Japanese and foreign), organic beer and various other craft type stalls.

Although the market wasn't as large as we'd expected it was certainly interesting and great to see people taking the initiative to get the farmer's market thing going in Tokyo. Check out the website at www.earthdaymarket.com/ unfortuantely only in Japanese at but the dates of forthcoming market days are easy to find. A map link is also included.

We then attempted to walk back towards Shinjuku, and home, through Yoyogi Park. The park is great as it has a slightly wild feel to it but a word of warning: there's no way of getting to the Yoyogi station area through the park. We ended up on a massive 3km detour from the north west(?) exit walking alongside the expressway to get to Kita-Sando station.

Not much fun with two young children and a pushchair!

National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo

Took the two older children to the National Museum of Nature and Science, or Kahaku, in Ueno Park. If you haven't been I'd throughly recommend it as a good day out. Cheap also as adult entry is only 600 yen and children up to 18 get in free. (Mind you, the restaurant is a little on the pricey side, espcially as the menu consists of the Japanese attraction standard fare; curry rice, meat sauce spaghetti etc.)
The museum itself is split over two buildings. The older building or The Japan Pavillion, which in itself is worth the visit as old buildings are few and far between in Tokyo, houses mainly a collection animal and plant species native to Japan. Although at this present moment it is closed for refurbishment. The newer building, The Earth Pavillion, house dinosaurs (big with my children!) and six other floors of exhibits of showing the relationship between the earth and the creatures upon it. My children enjoyed looking for the animals in the third floor Woodland Wonder and playing with experiments on the second floor.
If you visit and it's not raining take your kids up to the roof where you'll find about half a dozen giant parasols that open and close when triggered by movement sensors.

But the really great thing about the National Museum of Nature and Science are the multi-lingual explanations. Next to each exhibit are touch screens that explain what it is you're looking at. A simple touch switches the language to English, Chinese or Korean. The museum also rents an IC card device that you carry around and touch against the explanation stations, when you return your IC card you take the paper card from the device and using the log in and password provided can access the explanations again at home over the internet. Great if you have impatient kids, like mine! Be sure to ask for an IC card at the desk just after you enter the museum.