It’s tiny and you could walk through the whole thing in about three minutes, but the Kite Museum is also a fascinating facility that’s well worth a visit. They’ve been flying kites in Japan for thousands of years, and many of the pieces in this museum are works of art.
There are kites from the Edo period (one hand-painted by the Ukiyo-e master Hiroshige), giant fighting kites used in festivals in which teams of dozens of participants try to cut the strings of the other team’s kites, and all manner of paper and wood objects that you’d never guess would be able to fly, like sailing ships or this geometrical kite.
Perhaps the most incredible kite in the museum is this iron kite from France. And yes, it actually does fly!
The museum is so small there are even kites on the ceiling.
Another interesting exhibit is the studio of a famous kite maker.
The kite museum was started by the owner of a famous restaurant called the Taimeiken, and is located on the fifth floor of the same building.
It’s open from 11-5, Monday to Saturday, except for national holidays, and admission is 300 yen for adults.
Address: 1-12-10 Nihonbashi, Chuoh-ku, Tokyo 103-0027
Phone: (03)3271-2465, FAX.:(03)3273-0575
There’s more information about the museum and a map on this homepage:
http://www.tako.gr.jp/eng/museums_e/tokyo_e.html
