Adventures in Oji - paper museum

After our adventures in Nippori, we hopped back on the train to Oji, which is just a couple of stops away. It's the first time I have been there. We were starving and so wanted to grab some lunch. I have to admit, I always find looking for somewhere to eat always stresses me out somewhat. At the station there were the usual suspects, MacDonalds, Sukiya, chain coffee shops... Then we spotted Little Mermaid. Turned out to be a Dutch cafe, lovely sandwiches and pastries, totally hit the mark.

With our bellies filled we headed off to find the museum. Ebi-kun wanted to get on the tram but I had no idea where they went but then he spotted the monorail instead.

Of course, I had no idea where this was going either but figured it wouldn't be too long. The fella at the bottom made us sit down, when I asked where to buy a ticket, he told us it was free - even better. Well, I have to say, it would have been quicker to walk up the stairs! The monorail is about 50m long, the kids all thought it was fun though!

The Paper Museum is a 5 minute walk through the park, right next to the kids playground. When you get in, there is a ticket machine to your left, the instructions are in English too. We got there just in the nick of time to make out own postcards.

The first fella was trying to explain everything in very broken English, we had to tell him to use Japanese in the end. They must get a lot of tourists in Oji because everyone tried to use English on us, it was quite weird for me!

The process was fun and you get to choose an image to watermark your postcard with, Ebi-kun picked out Tokyo Sky Tree and I picked the panda.

The process only took 5-10 minutes and the staff were really friendly.

There isn't that much English as far as explanations go but there is a very detailed handout when you arrive. The second floor has a lot of hands on stuff and was quite interesting.

I spotted this in the display section and thought it would make a fun activity. You could use family members photos and make different wigs for them.

Of course, Ebi-kun wanted to have a play in the park before we left. Looks like a nice little park, lots of kids running around.

We had a lovely day and finished off after the park by buying new shoes for Ebi-kun, his old ones had a hole in them. He has yet to grow out of a pair of shoes, he just wears them out!