The Edo-Tokyo Museum

Sunday was a day well-spent at the Edo Tokyo Museum. Since most real vestiges of Tokyo's past were burned to the ground during World War II, it was a cool little detour to make.
The layout of the place brought you through Tokyo's last eight or so centuries in chronological order, from the age of the shoguns all the way to the capitulation during World War II.
The museum was very interactive and had gorgeous miniature sets painted with intricate detail.

But one of the highlights of the visit was, to me, the life-sized sets that allowed you to visit such things as the traditional Kabuki theaters or the houses of the peasants during the feudal area.
I've yet to go to a Kabuki play; I'll do that eventually.

The interactive pieces allowed you to sample the weight of certain things, such as the water buckets carried by the peasants, or the standards held by the firefighters. Once could also sit inside a carriage, on top of a post-western-influence bicycle, or on rickshaws.
I thought it was a cool little touch to add interactivity.
On a side note, the buckets weren't that heavy (33lbs?) but the picture on the left is for fooling people into thinking I'm a strong man. Only my blog followers get the privilege of knowing that.

So all in all, it was a fun day. The Edo-Tokyo museum costs 600Y for admission, and one can expect to spend three to four hours inside.

Here's a picture of me with a squid sticking out of my mouth, lifting my thumbs up of approval.