Shirone Kite Museum

Shirone, in the southern ward of Niigata City, is well-known for its giant kite festival, held annually in June.  If you can't make it to the festival itself, the Shirone Kite Museum is a fun place to spend an afternoon and learn about the history of the festival and the amazing kites that fly there.

The museum is filled with beautiful kites, big and small, with designs ranging from the traditional samurai and dragons to modern cartoon characters and realistic birds and insects.

On the second floor there is a workshop where you can build and color your own kite (for 300 yen) and then fly it in a wind tunnel!

In addition to the kites, there are also many displays about traditional crafts and life in Shirone over the past century.

The Shirone Kite Museum is open on most days from 9am to 5pm.  Entry is 400 yen for adults and 200 yen for children (elementary up to high school), but on weekends children are free.

Shirone Kite Museum homepage (No English): http://www.shiteikanrisha.jp/ootako/index.html

Tabletop games for kids

We play a lot of games at home, especially when the weather is not good or when he have friends visiting us. Although I didn't play many tabletop games growing up, there has been something of a Renaissance in game design over the last several years, especially with games designed in Europe (particularly Germany).

Among the incredibly popular titles such as Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne there are a number of excellent card and board games that have been made with children in mind. Some of our favorites are Dixit, Labyrinth, Aufbruch ins Abenteuer, and Hey That's My Fish! One of the best points of these games is that they don't require any reading, so you can play them with very young children while using any language.

The difficulty lies in finding these games, as large toy and department stores in Niigata don't stock them, and ordering online can be quite expensive with shipping (many are only available shipped from overseas). Fortunately, there are two excellent shops which carry a wide variety of games, and both have opened copies that you can try out in the store, as well as friendly staff who will explain each game and show you how to play.

1) Atelier Tonton is a small shop located in a residential area in the Higashi-Ku part of Niigata.  In fact, the "shop" is actually the first floor of the owners' home! While it is primarily a workshop for teaching how to make jewelry, there is a large cabinet full of European games. The couple who own the shop are very friendly and more than happy to sit down and play any of the games with you. There is no parking available at the shop, but there is a large parking area at the nearby convenience store and Aming.

Atelier Tonton website: http://ateliertonton.com/gift/board-game.html



2) Krtek is another shop where you can find a lot of great tabletop games.  It is located in the downtown area of Niigata city, very close by the city hall.  In addition to a large selection of tabletop games, they also specialize in beautiful wooden toys, puzzles, and decorations (when we went they had many handmade Christmas items imported from Germany).  The shop can be a little cramped if there are more than 2 or 3 families, but the staff are very helpful and take time to explain the games.

Krtek website: http://www.krtek.ne.jp/