Anpanman Museum

Tuesday Kan took a vacation day and we opted to try out the Anpanman Museum in Yokohama rather than Disney. I LOVE Tokyo Disney, but in this heat with a 14 pound 9 week old strapped to my chest, the indoor museum with AC was a much better option. Miyako never knew the difference and based on the photos you see, she had a fabulous time at Anpanman's house. We will hold off on Disney until the fall when the temps are a bit cooler. For those of you who do not know who Anpanman is, he is a cute little Japanese cartoon character and ALL the tots know him. Every indoor play area you go to will have Anpanman toys. He has a cartoon show that comes on every Friday afternoon. And he has lots of friends - Shokupanman (super bread man), Melonpanna (names after a sweet roll here), Cheese dog (yes, the dog's name is simply "cheese"), Currypanman (named after Japanese curry) and Baikinman who is the bad guy. We left the house around 11, got to the station around 12:15, had lunch and then spent about 2 hours in the museum. We were home by five. Miyako was in heaven. She did not stay still for more than five seconds before she was off to see something else. They had a little show where larger than life Anpanman and Shokupanman came out on stage and did some dancing and singing. Miyako had front row seats in daddy's lap and was singing along to the Anpanman theme song. As we left, we had to buy an Anpanman balloon and a snow cone because how often do you get snow cones over here. It was a very fun day. As we walked back to the station, we were calculating how much we spent between food, train tickets, entrance to the museum, and treasures from the museum. Kan said he felt like we were on a visa commercial where it ends with, "The picture of your child's face...priceless."