The Moominvalley Park, based on the world-famous Finnish children's story Moomin, is located on a vast land of about 7.3 hectares on the shore of Lake Miyazawa in Hanno, Saitama Prefecture. The park has a Moominhouse and a tent modeled after the one used by the popular character Snufkin. One of the four areas of the park is "Kokemus," which means "experience" in Finnish.
The first half of the course in the Kokemus facility has lots of gimmicks that make you feel like you are in a fairy-tale world. When you enter the third floor, you will see in the dim lighting 3D reproductions of illustrations from the novels. The exhibits, which express the personalities of Moomin -- the kind and brave main character who leaped into the forest to follow his friends, freedom-loving Snufkin, who enjoyed sitting by himself at a fire, and other characters in the novels -- make you feel like you are in the story.
The second floor exhibition in the course's latter half introduces the background of Moomin creator Finnish author Tove Jansson (1914-2001) and displays her thoughts portrayed in her works by quoting passages from her novels.
A picture-frame exhibition shows multilayered illustrations. "Everybody came running down with their glasses, and Moominpapa filled every one -- cups and bowls, birch bark mugs, shells and even cornets made of leaves."
This is a scene from the novel "Finn Family Moomintroll," published in 1948, where missing Moominmama's bag was found and a celebratory party was held. The novel was published in the chaotic period just after the end of World War II and my heart was touched by Jansson, who emphasized the importance of helping each other in such hard times.
The very first drawing of Moomin, black with red eyes and eerie-looking, which Jansson did when she was a teenager and first started working on her creation, and other drawings showing the changes in Moomin's features, were also on exhibit, with visitors looking at them intently.
"I've read the novels and comics, but after learning about all this background information, I want to read them all again," Kaho Yamaguchi, 23, a university student who came from Toyama Prefecture with her mother, said with a smile.
-- Moominvalley Park
A subsidiary of the Tokyo-based investment company FinTech Global Inc. operates the park that opened in March this year. The Moomin stories first appeared in Japan during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Address: 327-6 Miyazawa, Hanno, Saitama Prefecture
Open: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Information on temporary closures is posted on the website.
Admission: Moominvalley Park tickets are 1,500 yen for adults (13 years or older) and 1,000 yen for children (4 to 12 years).
Information: (0570) 001-630
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