Secret of Illusion Museum

Some exhibits look different if you change the angle.
Everything is under control of laws of nature.

Now, you know your vision has been computed.

They have more interesting exhibitions beside the ones I showed here in this small museum (It's actually one of laboratories of university) and professors and/or students volunteer to explain about illusion if you have interests.

I'll miss this place from next year.

Illusion Museum

Illusion Museum is a facility of Meiji University studying computational illusion.
It's not a commercial museum, but it's open to public only on Saturdays.

There's a message at the entrance.

"Resistance is futile.
  We have computed your vision.

 Can you really believe your eyes?
 Let illusion invite you to have another think.

 Welcome to the world of computational illusion."

You can experience these illusions and enjoy their strangeness.

Let me show you some exhibitions.
(I'll show you the secret of some illusions tomorrow.)

 Impossible motion.

 These balls seem to ignore gravity.

Two balls are same in size.

One of impossible solids.

This reminds me of Escher's "Ascending and Descending".

 One of impossible solids.

Homeostasis in eye color.

Her right eye of each picture has the same color.

Letter row tilt illusion.

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<The Nearest Station>

Awajicho station on Marunouchi Line (M19/Tokyo Metro)

<Admission>

Free of Charge

10:00-17:00  Open only on Saturdays

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Unfortunately, this museum will be closed at the end of 2015.

St. Nicholai Church

On the other side of the Kanda river, there's a beautiful church.
The official name of this church is Holly Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo and it's the center of the Orthodox Church in Japan.

We call it St. Nicholai Church  named after Priestmonk Nicholai.

This church was built in 1891, but had serious damages by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923.
It's renovated in 1925-1927.

There was no direct damage by bombing at the World War II in 1945, however, this place was used to store bodies of victim.


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<The Nearest Station>

JR Ochanomizu station on Chuo Line
Ochanomizu station on Marunouchi Line (M20/Tokyo Metro)

<Admission>

Free of Charge

A candle for 300 yen to enter the entrance hall

13:00-16:00  (Apr. - Sep.)
13:00-15:30  (Oct. - Mar.)

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From here, you can go through two commercial facilities to get to Illusion Museum in Awajicho.

You should go down to Sola City and go down again to Waterras and go down again to be on the road. You'll find Tokyo is a hilly city.

Sola City

Sola City to Waterras

Waterras

Lunch and Souvenir Shopping in Ochanomizu

We have a lot of delicious and reasonable restaurants around here for hungry collage students.

Also, there're many music instrument stores in this town.

Among various good restaurants, I'd recommend to try Sanuki Noodle at Maruka restaurant.

You may need to be in a queue for a while to get into the restaurant.

But turns are not bad, so you don't have to wait as it looks like.

Trust me, it's worth waiting.

Sanuki Noodle is a specialty in Shikoku Area.

This restaurant serves noodles as good as ones in Shikoku.

Order some kind of tempura as a side dish.

After lunch, stop by Village Vanguard, playing book store.

This is a variety goods store rather than book store.

I feel like I'm getting into a secret base when I approach to this underground store.

You may find funny souvenir in this store.

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Maruka (Sanuki Noodle)  11:00-14:30  Closed on Sundays and Holidays

Village Vanguard            10:00-23:00

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Meiji University Museum

Meiji University Museum is located on the B2 floor of "Academy Common Building" of Meiji University.

This museum is divided into 3 departments.

* Criminal Materials Department  - Law and People, Crime and Punishment -
* Commodity Department  - A Wealth of Traditional Designs -
* Archaeology Department  - Man and History -

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<The Nearest Station>

JR Ochanomizu station on Chuo Line
Ochanomizu station on Marunouchi Line (M20/Tokyo Metro)

<Admission>

Free of Charge

10：00-16：30

Closed on Sundays and Holidays / Aug. 10th - 16th / Dec. 26th - Jan. 7th

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Let's focus on Criminal Materials Department because it's so unique.

There're several exhibitions as follows.

* Japan's Crime and Punishment
* Culprits of the Edo Period
* Torture and Tribunal
* Execution and Correction
* A Wealth of Criminal History

Exhibitions include devices to catch criminals in Edo Period and tools of torture and execution from Japan and the other countries. In particular, the guillotine and the Iron Maiden of Nuremberg are exhibits unique to Japan.

Visitors may gain a deeper appreciation of human dignity through the exposure to the world of crime and punishment.

Guillotine

Iron Maiden of Nuremberg

Yushima Seido

Yushima Seido Temple was open in late 17th century as Confucius's mausoleum.
After it burned down several times, a National Collage was built in this place in late 18th century.
This was the origin of Japan's school education.
Confucius Temple was restored accordingly.

This collage  was closed in 1871 just after the Meiji Restoration.
Most of the buildings burned down again at the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923.

Current buildings were built in 1935.

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<The Nearest Station>

JR Ochanomizu station on Chuo Line
Ochanomizu station on Marunouchi Line (M20/Tokyo Metro)

<Admission>

Free of Charge

100 yen to enter Taiseiden (Main building)
which is open on only weekends and holidays

9:30-17:00

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There is the tallest Confucius statue in the world, which is a gift from the Lions Club of Chinese Taipei.

Students preparing for entrance examination come to this place to prey for good luck.

Kanda Shrine

Official name of this shrine is Kanda Shraine but known as Kanda Myojin.
Kanda Myojin is the one of the oldest shrines in Tokyo. Since it was established in the year of 730, it's almost 1300 years old.

3 gods are deified.
Daikoku is a god of fertility, Ebisu is a god of fishery and Taira no Masakado is a samurai in 10th century.

People come to this shrine to prey for their prosperity and/or protection from disaster or illness.

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<The Nearest Station>

JR Ochanomizu station on Chuo Line
Ochanomizu station on Marunouchi Line  (M20/Tokyo Metro)

<Admission>

Free of Charge

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Kanda Matsuri or Kanda ceremony is held every other year.
It's one of the 3 great ceremonies in Edo (Old Tokyo).

 * Kanda Matsuri (Kanda Shrine)
 * Sanno Matsuri (Hie Shrine)
 * Fukagawa Matsuri (Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine)

Also, it's counted as one of the 3 great ceremonies in Japan.

 * Gion Matsuri (Yasaka Shrine) in Kyoto
 * Tenjin Matsuri (Osaka Temmangu Shrine) in Osaka
 * Kanda Matsuri (Kanda Shrine) in Tokyo


If you are lucky, you may see a wedding ceremony in Shinto style.

(S01) 3 Sacred Places in Ochanomizu

I'd like to introduce one day walking tour in Ochanomizu area.
"Ochanomizu" means "water for tea".
It's said that there's a good fountain which was used for tea for Shogun.

Ochanomizu is located on the edge of highland.
You will see up-downs on the way.

This tour covers Kanda Myojin Shrine, Confucius Temple, St. Nicholai Church, some museums and a cafe which is located on the platform of old railroad station.

Route is as follows.

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1. Kanda Myojin Shrine

2. Yushima Seido Temple　 (Confucius Temple and the first collage in Edo era)

3. Meiji University Museum 　(Exhibition about torture  and punishment)

4. Lunch

5. Village Vanguard　 (Playing book store)

6. St. Nicholai Church

7. Illusion Museum

8. mAAch ecute 　(Commercial facility in old station)

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There's a bridge crossing on Kanda river near Ochanomizu station.
This bridge is named "Hijiri bashi" which means "Sacred bridge" since this bridge is between 2 sacred places (Yushima Seido Temple and St. Nicholai Church)

I'll introduce one by one in detail.

Tokyo Skytree at Night

Tokyo Skytree has basic two colors, "Iki" blue and "Miyabi" purple.
Lighting shows these colors every other day.

"Iki" is a spirit of Edo (Old Tokyo) and "Miyabi" is a sense of beauty of Edo.
These colors are light and don't make a strong contrast against darkness of the night.

When we have an event or something special, Skytree may show different colors.

"Iki" Blue

 in Twilight

"Miyabi" Purple

Red for ???

Olympic Version