Summer holidays and 36 degrees outside – what can top going to a cool (and cool) museum, exploring art, culture and history together with your 5 year old son? Well, I would say going with your son and wife! This summer we have had the chance to do quite a few things together as a family and I foresee a series of museum post this August if our outings can continue.
Fukuoka Art Museum is a beautiful museum, situated in the big Ohori park. The permanent collection is excellent and there are always exciting temporary collections so a few times a year we find ourselves exploring the museum together. This time there was a Hello Kitty special exhibition celebration Hello Kitty having turned 50 years old (although I must say after having seen the exhibition, she still looks very much like the same cute cat she has always done). Going through the displays, seeing all the goods and artwork that has been inspired by this world famous character, I got many flash backs to when I was young (and vaguely familiar with Hello Kitty). For our son, Hello Kitty has become somewhat of a friend and a normal part of life in Japan. Apart from all the Hello Kitty goods available everywhere, you can see lots of images of her in every day life. There is even a Hello Kitty themed shinkansen train set operating between Fukuoka and Osaka, and a Hello Kitty themed storage locker rental company that we pass every week.
The exhibition was very popular, especially among the twenty-somethings, and we had to queue quite some time before being admitted. Looking back at the exhibition now, I am glad that we went, even though it felt more like a sales event than an exhibition. Before we could exit we had to queue again, only to be let in to the small merchandise shop where everyone was allowed to spend ten minutes and buy no more than 30 items (it was clearly stated that a bag is counted as one item and that resale is prohibited). Apart from taking selfies among all the Hello Kitty objects and figures, judging from the over filled Hello Kitty shopping bags we met, I got the sense that many people came to the exhibition for these ten minutes in the store buying exhibition exclusive items. We managed to keep the purchase to a minimum, our son getting an exhibition special doll to hang on his backpack, me getting a Japanese ukiyo-e style tenugi (a Japanese thin cotton fabric towel used for wrapping or decoration) featuring Hello Kitty to hang in our little Japanese room at home. I am looking at it now as I write, and seeing it makes me very happy.
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