Tokyo-Edo Museum

On Friday, I went to the Tokyo-Edo Museum in Ryogoku for some cultural exposure outside of my room...

 When I first got to Ryogoku, this is what I saw. Ryogoku is famous for three main things: the Edo-Tokyo Museum, Chanko hot pot (the traditional meal of sumo wrestlers), and Sumo wrestling. The main Sumo ring is located there. I didn't go to see it since you can't go inside, but there were enough Sumo things around the station to satisfy my sumo needs.

 For example, his is a statue with a famous sumo wrestler plus their handprints in bronze.

 When you first get to the museum, you have to cross the famous bridge: Nihonbashi. It splits the museum in half:

On one side of the bridge, you can see Edo period Tokyo--the time of samurai, merchants, daimyo, and rich popular culture. My favorite period in Japanese history~ This is a picture of an outdoor theater.

On the other side of the bridge, you can catch a glimpse of the modern Tokyo. This side covers the Meiji period (1800s) through World War II to 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. This is a picture of a model of the first newspaper building in Tokyo.

First, the Edo side.

 This is a statue of the first ruler of the Edo period who broght peace to Japan after several years of war: Tokugawa Ieyasu.

 A minature Edo style parade.

A close up. I love this little figures.

I also love the little town models of Edo period Japan. They're so intricately made it makes me want to shrink down and join all the tiny people!

 Close up of Edo village in front of a large shop.

 This was probably my favorite part. It shows how Edo style woodblock prints were made! It was so beautiful and so crazily complex looking! It must have taken so much time just to create each block. Then, the blocks were painted with colored ink and pressed on to paper to make hundreds of copies of the same picture. Amazing.

 This is for Jonathan! lol Remember we studied some of the prints called 'One hundred famous views of Edo' in Asian art history?? This is one of the original prints from that series!

 A model of an Edo period light novel shop.

 A model demonstrating childbirth during the Edo period. I thought this was really interesting. The woman had to give childbirth in the sitting position, and then the midwife would wash the baby face down on her lap so that the freshly cut umbilical cord wouldn't get wet. The woman who just gave birth then had to stay inside sitting up in an upright position day and night for a few days afterwards or it was thought that the blood would rush to her head. However, this tradition unfortuantely often had negative effects on the woman's health.

 Edo period style money.

After the Edo period, which was a period when Japan tried to maintain a closed country, there was the Meiji period--a period of 'Enlightenment" when Japan wanted to transform itself into a progressive and basically European country.
I thought this sign was interesting. Although the Japanese version of the sign didn't quite give off the same feeling, the English translation makes me think that there wasn't all happiness behind 'Englightment', as is often the case. For example, with the samurai class abolished, they were often forced into menial jobs such as rickshaw carriers, which was rough work and provided a menial salary.

The first Japanese bank--note the western style building.

A Japanese Roman Catholic church modeled after Russian structure. Apparently, this building is still standing today.

The female Japanese Westernized style of clothing and hair.

 The original 'Gakumon no Susume' by Fukuzawa Yukichi, who founded Keio University!

World War II period Japan:

 Japanese style ice skates!

 A model of a World War II Japanese style room. The windows are taped in case of bombings, the furnishings are sparse, and the toys are even of that time period.

I love these paintings. They were painted at the time of the bombings in Tokyo and depict the terrible effects in ways that I've never seen before. The style kind of reminds me of Diego Rivera's paintings of the Mexican Revolution. 

 The official document of surrender that Japan signed with the US.

1950s~80s Japan:

The refridgerators were so cute and tiny! They're still tiny, though...

Old TVs and radios

1960s Olympics in Japan

The museum was really interesting! Plus, I've always wanted to go, so I'm glad I was finally able to. The descriptions have too many kanji so I can't read them...but some of the descriptions were in English and I listened in to some of the Japanese guides around the museum too. There were also lots of students on field trips! It was really fun to listen in on their conversations too.