Taimeiken Kite Museum: Nihonbashi
A visit to Nihonbashi's Taimeiken Kite Museum feels a bit like stepping into the attic of an eccentric old man. The room is a tangled heap of color and string, requiring you to duck under and step around the hundreds of kites that couldn't fit inside the glass display cases.

Indeed, the current director of the museum continues to add to the collection, buying more kites during his frequent business trips (around 50 times a year, apparently) and setting them in what little space is left available.

Variety seems to be more important than order in this cramped exhibition space. Traditional bamboo flyers sit next to a modern kite resembling Anpan Man, the Japanese superhero for toddlers. Giant dragon-head kites loom over three-dimensional sailboat kites reminiscent of a Spanish Galleon. Low ceilings are made even lower by flocks of bird-like kites, many of which are made from real birds.

The elementary school set will dig all of this completely, but it may be hit or miss on either side of that age group. Junior and senior high-schoolers may grow bored with such low-tech apparatus, while toddlers could find the closed confines and frequent monster motifs (not to mention spooky dead birds) a little too creepy for comfort.

For kite enthusiasts, however, this is Mecca. The Japan Kite Association calls this place home, and the museum has information on exhibitions (check out the U.S. exhibition photos under glass), as well as kite-making classes.

Consider Taimeikan another short-stop museum, where an hour should be more than enough. If you're hungry, occupying the first floor of the building is the popular Taimeikan Restaurant, which serves steak, pasta and other "Western" foods such as Omelet-Rice. This is a good spot for lunch - that is, if you are willing to wait in line (it's that popular).

If you're just looking for a place to relax for a while, walk back towards Eitai-dori, and one block down on the right in the Coredo building is a hip gadget shop called Garage, which has tons of toys, model cars and other cool stuff for kids and adults alike (my son and I were both taken with cartoonish, one-seater cars powered by batteries) There's also a nice juice bar attached next door, with seating spacious enough for several families to spread out.

With spring winds quickly blowing away the chill of winter, this may be the ideal time to visit the Taimeikan Kite Museum. Kites are available at the gift shop, so anyone interested in having a "conversation with the wind," as enthusiasts say, now you know where to start.

by Jason Jenkins



Taimeiken Kite
Museum

1-12-10 Nihonbashi 1-12-10, 5F
03-3271-2465

Open 11am-5pm; closed Sundays and holidays.
Admission: 200 yen

Take the Asakusa, Ginza or Tozai Line to Nihonbashi station and take the steps up Exit C5 (no elevator). Turn right out of the exit and take the first right. The Taimeiken Restaurant will be one block down on the right. The Kite Museum is on the 5th floor of the same building. There is often a line in front of the building - this is for the restaurant, not the museum. Enter the front door and take the elevator to the 5th floor.

http://www.taimeiken.co.jp/museum.html

The Japan Kite Association
http://www.tako.gr.jp/eng/index_e.html