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KITE MUSEUM
| KITE MUSEUM in Nihonbashi, Tokyo was built by Masaaki Modegi on the 5th floor of Taimeiken
Building in 1977. Masaaki Modegi is the son of Shingo Modegi who was the
founder of a western style restaurant Taimeken in 1927. Collecting kites was started by Shingo Modegi as his hobby. Today,
collecting kites succeeded by the family amount to about 3,000 and of them
300 are exhibited in the museum and shown to the public. Precious hand
drawn kites are sold at about 7,000 to 9,000 yen a piece and a printed
one at 350 yen. Website: Kite Museum Open: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (closed Sundays and National holidalys) Admission: 200 yen New Address: 1-5-3 Muromachi, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku. Access: Nihonbashi Station on Subway or Mitsukoshi-mae Ginza Line Telephone: 03-3275-2704 In most parts of Japan, kite flying is enjoyed by children in the New Year season. Some districts, however, fly kites in May or have special seasons for it. Kite flying as a pastime for children and grown-ups seems to have existed since early days. Japanese kites come in many shapes - round, square, oblong or in a bird-like form. Japanese kites have generally long stabilizing tails of paper or straw ropes. In some parts of the country, boys have kite fights. They try to pull down other kites by clever manipulation of their own. (quoted from Mock Joya's THINGS JAPANESE) See also: February Tako Ichi at Oji Inari Shrine and May Giant Kite Festival at Kasukabe on this site. |