The National Museum of Nature & Science

Monday was a national holiday so daddy-ebi was off work - yeah! So we went to Ueno to check out the museum, I have been before but years ago and they have updated all the exhibits and modernised it all making it much more interesting. Lets face it though, there is only so much you can do to jazz up old bones and lumps of rock :o) Of course, Ebi-kun was only really interested in the dinosaur bones, he was quite surprised how big they actually are and I was surprised how small Dimetron was! We spent most of the morning there then left to get some lunch and returned to do the last 2 floors in the afternoon. If you want to go, I recommend getting there early, it was much quieter in the morning.

Inside the museum is a 360 deg movie theatre. It is basically a big ball that you go inside and you stand on a platform that is suspended in the middle, the platform has a perspex floor so you can see below you. The film is then projected onto the whole of the surface of the ball which makes it feel like you are floating inside, you have a complete 360 deg view and so it is possible to miss things that are going on behind/above/below you. It is a very unique experience, the film we saw started in the clouds then took us down to earth and through the sea, we went through a coral reef and then into outer space where we went back in time, then it was back to earth to hang out with dinosaurs. The film is about 8 minutes long and it was well worth ¥600 entrance fee to the museum just to go in there!

When we got home Ebi-kun decided he wanted to build his own 360 theatre, so I left him to it. He gathered up all the chairs and the bench and tried to use his little blanket for a cover but it was too small so I got out a sheet and helped him put it on.
We then got his origami dinosaurs and put on a scary shadow show.

view inside Ebi-kuns 360 theatre

I love the way that his mind works and the need to re-create an experience and seeing the dinosaurs at the museum has re-sparked that love for them, today robots are out and dino's are back in :o)