A Child's First Encounter With Art

The analog joy of toys in a digitally-saturated world - with the Tokyo Toy Museum

At first glance, the Yotsuya Elementary School in Shinjuku looks like any other public school in Tokyo – a compact, grey, nondescript building, with a small turf playground and concrete entrance way. The only things missing are the familiar sound of bells ringing, and the school kids themselves.

This elementary school, like so many across Japan, was a ‘haiko / 廃校’ or ‘abolished school’. With a declining birth rate and rapidly ageing population, empty schools have become a symbol of Japan’s demographic crisis.

But amongst sad school closures, there are beautiful examples of repurposing that poignantly remind us of how Japan in fact celebrates and nurtures children. The Tokyo Toy Museum is one of my favourites.

While living in Tokyo raising three kids, it was the most inspiring regular outing for my family.

As you enter, you notice the school interiors have been barely altered; you feel the spirits of students past, still walking the halls. But the atmosphere is not eerie or melancholy – just a natural acknowledgement of the history and past-life of the school. Very soon you remove your shoes and glide your feet across the warm wooden floors into a hand-crafted timber play-forest. Now your ears are met with the joyful voices of children playing and the sound of wooden toys clanking.

Room after room is filled with toys from around the world – from old-fashioned Foosball tables and wooden stilts, to dolls and kinetic puzzles. If you get stuck trying to play a game or work out the mechanism of a toy, a volunteer quietly appears to assist you. The warmth of their kindness matches the warm glow of the timber interiors.

Every time I visited the Museum, I'd wonder how it came about (and dream about creating one in Australia).?

So before moving back to Sydney I interviewed Ms Harumi Kitsutaka, General Manager of the Tokyo Toy Museum facility.?

Click below to read more.