Tokyo: Museum offers colorful, hands-on fun

In a near-permanent exhibition showcasing the work of picture book author Eric Carle, visitors can enjoy feeling as though they have entered the world of his best-known work, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Original drafts of pictures from some of Carle's other picture books are displayed around the caterpillar statue. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Play! Museum, which opened in June this year and is a place that's all about pictures and words, boasts a near-permanent exhibit featuring the works of American picture book author Eric Carle. Since its first edition was published in 1969, his best-known work, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," has been translated into 62 languages.

The story of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" begins with the birth of a tiny caterpillar on a leaf on Sunday morning.

"One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and -- pop! -- out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar," the book reads.

A green object, reminiscent of the belly of a caterpillar, and a smock Carle used while working (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

It ate through an apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, chocolate cakes, cherry pies and more until it got a stomachache, formed a chrysalis and emerged as a beautiful butterfly. The pictures of the food in the book have round holes here and there, as though it had been eaten by a caterpillar.

The exhibition is housed in a white room with a small entrance and holes here and there to make visitors feel as if they are entering the world of the picture book. There are also interesting stories behind Carle's creation of the book, such as the fact that Carle was using a hole punch at the time he hit upon the idea of a caterpillar eating a book, the U.S. printing company he was using could not make pages with holes within budget and the fact that the first edition of the book was printed in Japan.

A section of a short-term exhibit was created around the theme of "faces" by a Japanese duo known as tupera tupera. As visitors stroll through the section, they are stared at by faces belonging to a baby, a ghost, a face made from fruit and so on.

A young visitor stands within a hands-on exhibit where faces can be made. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Many children excitedly tried the hands-on exhibit where they can use ropes and cushions in the shape of a nose and a mouth inside a facial outline drawn on the floor to make a face of their own.

"Even my 1-year-old enjoyed seeing and touching all of the displays," said a man in his 30s who came with his family.

Children can naturally interact with the art without worrying about being told not to by their parents. It was quite a sight to see so many visitors enjoying the exhibition with peaceful expressions on their faces.

The entrance to a section of the short-term exhibit is designed in the shape of a human mouth. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Play! Museum: 3-1 Midoricho, Tachikawa, Tokyo, inside Green Springs

(Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

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