post-impressions of a museum visit

What’s the biggest difference in visiting museums in Tokyo compared to….well most other places? The number of people you rub shoulders with!  

On the good advice of my Japanese teacher, Matsumoto Sensei, I decided to arrive at opening time (10AM) to see,   

at The National Art Center. You can get off the subway right below the museum for easy access – they even sell entrance tickets in the tunnel leading to the main entrance. Why? Because Japanese young people, housewives and retirees flock to see block buster shows like this one.  

Despite being there early, when I entered the first room of paintings, the crowd was already at least 15 people deep. Quite overwhelmed, I skirted around the edges and chose carefully what I wanted to line for. I was definitely impressed, but not so much by seeing these works in the flesh again, rather by the volume of spectators moving around the rooms in such orderly fashion, most with handheld lecture devices held tightly to their ears.  

Post impressions? I wasn’t disappointed; I got to stand for sometime (during a lull) in front of some favorite works by Maurice Denis & Henri Rousseau. So today was just another art and culture experience in Japan…one that was just a little more on the culture side, that’s all.