The National Museum of Science and Innovation

July 7th, 2019

During this trip, we had five Scouts with us, Ikuto, Anna, Frankie, Sachi, and Yuna.

As usual, we started the day by meeting at Tachikawa Station. After everyone was dropped off, we gathered together to go over our money management journals and discuss train etiquette. To prevent Scouts from wandering off and to encourage teamwork, we split into partners for the rest of the day. First, we had to take a JR train to Kanda Station, and the Scouts were responsible for their own tickets. It was a long ride to our stop, but the Scouts were well behaved the whole way! From Kanda, it was a short ride to Shimbashi Station, where we switched to the Yurikamome line. It’s a suspended train, similar to a monorail. The Scouts really enjoyed this train in particular, because of its high speed and amazing views. Going under the Rainbow Bridge and hurtling around curves and bends made the trip very fun for everyone. After several minutes, we reached Tokyo International Cruise Terminal, the closest station to the The National Museum of Science and Innovation. 

It was a quick walk to the museum, but when we arrived, there was a ridiculously long queue to enter. We were concerned that we could miss our movie, but luckily, because we bought our tickets online, we were able to skip the line and arrive at the museum’s 3D dome theater with time to spare. We watched the short film, “Birthday”, which explained how the Earth and the universe were created. With the help of a English translation earpiece, all the Scouts were able to thoroughly enjoy the 3D experience. Although most of the movie was fast paced and full of stunning visuals, it ended with a long, quiet shot of the starry sky, which actually put a few of the Scouts to sleep! After Birthday ended, we had lunch. There were a few spills, but overall, everyone got along and finished lunch just fine. When the break was over, we re-grouped to write in our journals, adding up our spending so far. 

Once the Scouts had finished, we went to our final activity of the day. The Mammoth Exhibition. This exhibit not only featured photos and videos of the wildlife and humans of the Ice Age, but also many skeletons and preserved animal carcasses. All of the Scouts greatly enjoyed the videos, skeletons, and photos. However, the preserved animals proved to be a little too distressing for some of our Scouts. Although there were some tears, Mr. Mark turned the situation into a teaching moment, and with some comfort and explanations, everyone made it to the exhibition's end in good spirits. The Scouts even got to take some photos dressed up as cavemen and buy some cute souvenirs! 

With the day finished, everyone pulled out their raincoats and headed back to the station. On the long ride home, we spent the time finishing up everyone’s journals and writing about the day in our notebooks. After that was done, the Scouts were free to relax and play for the rest of the trip home. We arrived back at Tachikawa Station and dropped everybody off with no issues. 

All the Scouts had a great day of discovery and exploration at The National Museum of Science and Innovation, and we hope we’ll see you all again soon!

-Michelle