Kaya and Museums Day

This saturday I spent the day walking in central Tokyo. The original plan was to eat Kaya Toast at the Tokyo International Forum (near Tokyo Station), and then after that go to Jimbocho to visit a bookstore specialized in cat books (にゃんこ堂). The cat bookstore was very cute, and I was surprised at the variety of books that people can write about cats. I spend a long time reading a book about how to handle pets during an earthquake.

There was some sort of local festival going on, and we got a map with local museums and restaurants.

One thing that got our attention was a "Museum of the war wounded" (しょうけい館). This museum, in a very non descript building, tells the stories of people who were severely wounded in WWII, and how they continued their lives after the war. Honestly, at first I was a bit wary of the place, since Yasukuni Shrine (which glorifies the Japanese Imperial Army) was very close by, but it turns out that the message of this place seemed to be a very clear "war sucks, soldiers get wounded and left behind by society". Not a fun place, but educational. After that we went to the nearby "Showa Memorial Museum" (昭和館). This one we didn't really spent a long time in, just took a quick look at a picture gallery on the first floor.