Aomori Museum of Art

Saturday, August 14

One of the many reason I love my husband is because of our common interest in art. He knows that I have a strange attraction to the macabre and he aroused my curiosity to magazines such as Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose. Anyway, we were at an aquarium and he picked up a flyer for a limited-run exhibition on robots (another favorite Japanese icon of mine). Needless to say, I excitedly agreed to venture to Aomori City with kids in tow to see the exhibit.

There are two costs for the museum, the permanent collection (¥500) and the temporary exhibit (¥1,100). If both are viewed on the same day, there is a ¥200 discount, which is what we did.

Unfortunately, the museum prohibits the photography of any kind (even without flash) inside the museum L.

I would have relished the opportunity to take capture some of the images … a wooden and leather chair shaped in the form of a robot on one knee, old television and stereos reused to form a robot, the original humanoid corpse of Astro Boy, to name a few. Robots in the exhibit included both pre-war and post-war images. Original animated work, magna, and countless action figures of Gundam, Transformers, Tetsujin, Ultraman, Astro Boy and others fill the over five exhibition rooms.

Another exhibition that appealed to me was by Yoshitomo Nara, from Hirosaki City, is a prefectural native. Most of his work centers on children with eyes filled with sorrow. The museum manages over 150 pieces of paintings, drawings, and two installations.

The museum also commissioned Yoshitomo Nara to build two things, one of which is Aomori-ken, an 8.5m tall white dog outside the museum. Onlookers can see the statue from Exhibition Space F the inside the museum or from outside the museum. Outside viewing is not accessible for those in wheelchairs or with strollers because of the lack of elevators. To get to Aomori-ken dog, one would walk up one flight of stairs, walk across the building, then down two flights of stairs.

From October 9, 2009 through January 10, 2010, Studio Ghibli will appear as the museum’s next featured exhibit. If you are a fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated movies (Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away) and do not get a chance to go to Tokyo’s Ghibli Museum, I suggest that you take the time to see this exhibition.

Aomori Museum of Art Hours: 09:30 – 17:00

Closed: Every 2^nd and 4^th Monday, December 27-31

Phone: 017-783-3000; Website: http://www.aomori-museum.jp/en/

First of all, I’d like to say, be weary of the directions provided by the museum’s web site because they are COMPLETELY not to scale. If you are already in the city center, it appears you can take Namidate-dori to the museum, which you can, but it will meander through residential streets with very few English signs. From personal experience, taking Route 44 or 120 southbound onto Route 7 west are better alternatives.

Aomori Museum of Art getting there from Misawa AFB

http://traveling-tengco.blogspot.com/2010/08/aomori-city-maps.html

Follow driving directions numbers 1 - 15 from my Aug 2010 blog: Aomori City Directions and Maps.

Get in the left lanes for Route 7 toward Aomori Airport. Continue along Route 7 passing Routes 103, 120, and 44 – all of which lead you to Aomori City Center.

Do not fret if you cannot locate road signs for Aomori Museum of Art. Most road signs will read Route 7: Hirosaki and Fujisaki. In addition, follow signs for Sannai-Maruyama Site, as it is next to the museum.

Look for the Sannai-Maruyama Site and Aomori Museum of Art exit on the left side.

Turn right at the bottom of the hill. Follow signs to the museum. There are two parking lost. This first one is disable-accessible. The second parking lot is the main one.