I thought I would enjoy this science museum, but I was stumped by the language, or rather not knowing the language.
The hotel concierge warned me to go early to queue for the tickets; what he omitted to tell me was this: the entrance tickets to the planetarium show were limited. It was relatively easy to get to the Science Museum from Nagoya station: on the Higashimaya subway line to Fushimi and then a 20-minute walk to the destination. I remember to this day how hot it was to walk 20-minutes under a blazing sun, even with a hat on.
Arriving at about 10:30 at the museum door, there were already long queues: one for the Museum and one for the Planetarium. There were ushers of course, informing visitors on a placard how long it would take to get to the top of the queue. But luck would not have it, by the time I was head of the queue, the last four seats to the last Planetarium show on the day were sold. By that time I had endured 30 minutes of summer sun and was feeling rather hot and flustered.
This was a major disappointment because visiting a science museum where all the illustrations are in the local language that I cannot read was absolutely no fun. I wandered around the 6 floors like a lost child, among all the exhibits and felt that I was reading a giant picture book but not really understanding what those pictures were trying to tell me.
All the websites had warned of the museum being Japanese centric, i.e. no English translation. But it was only when I was confronted with it that I realized how my hunger for knowledge was blocked by the language barrier.
On the first floor, I saw some adults teaching children the art of origami. I decided to have a go at it. There, among young children, I made a dinosaur and an elephant, and emerged feeling that I had at least some fun, however childlike it was.
The hotel concierge warned me to go early to queue for the tickets; what he omitted to tell me was this: the entrance tickets to the planetarium show were limited. It was relatively easy to get to the Science Museum from Nagoya station: on the Higashimaya subway line to Fushimi and then a 20-minute walk to the destination. I remember to this day how hot it was to walk 20-minutes under a blazing sun, even with a hat on.
 |
| The unmistakable entrance to the Nagoya Science Museum |
 |
| The queue for tickets at the Science Museum |
This was a major disappointment because visiting a science museum where all the illustrations are in the local language that I cannot read was absolutely no fun. I wandered around the 6 floors like a lost child, among all the exhibits and felt that I was reading a giant picture book but not really understanding what those pictures were trying to tell me.
 |
| A contraption depicting various methods of turning rain to water |
 |
| At the end of the day, I took an interest in origami |
On the first floor, I saw some adults teaching children the art of origami. I decided to have a go at it. There, among young children, I made a dinosaur and an elephant, and emerged feeling that I had at least some fun, however childlike it was.
