Tokyo Trick Art Museum

In Japan there is something called "Trick Art", which are optical illusions/3D paintings that you can interact with and take photos that look interesting. In Sapporo there are Trick Art exhibitions from time to time, and I have visited three such exhibitions. There is also a permanent exhibition in a Trick Art museum outside Sapporo, that I have not been to yet.

Dodging a ninja coming up through the floor

In Tokyo there is also a Trick Art Museum. I finally found time to go there this month. I was in Tokyo for work and during the meeting I noticed that a friend of mine complained about the Tokyo heat on Facebook (she is normally in Sapporo). I commented that I was in Tokyo too, and she said we should meet. I said that since I was working it might be difficult but if I could get off work before she had to go to bed (midnight?) I would get back in touch.

Hiding above the door

Stabbed

Work turned out to finish way earlier than anyone expected, and I was free already at 19:00 or so. I sent a message saying I was heading to the Trick Art museum and if she still had nothing better to do, we could meet there. She showed up 15 minutes after me and we spent two hours taking funny photos.

Jumping out of the water to avoid the kappa

Skinny Jonas

There were quite a few other visitors in the museum. Everyone stops and takes photos, but most people that entered at the time we did disappeared way ahead of us and at one point there were four groups of visitors all waiting behind us, because one of us (me) spent so much time at each exhibit trying to take good photos and come up with interesting poses. We said we would let them pass ahead of us, because "we are super slow", but they kept waiting behind us...

Trying to steal a hairpin outside the museum

Carrying a surprisingly heavy lady

There were staff available that could help you take photos or suggest poses for different exhibits. They were all very good at posing. Some of them were not that good at taking photos, though, and many of my photos are very blurry...

Balancing on some poor guys bucket

Small Jonas

Big Jonas

The Tokyo museum had very many exhibits. Many more than the Trick Art exhibitions that come to Sapporo. Many of them were very good too. Interesting themes like rooms with ninjas, or haunted houses. I want to go there again, haha.

A mirror but no reflection of me

A mirror, but the reflection of me is strange

Trick Art is best if there are at least two of you. Some exhibits would be best with even more participants. And you might want a cameraman too. And some work best with kids. Sadly, I don't have enough friends that are interested enough to tag along, haha.

The museum also had a small museum shop. I bought some small toys there. When the visitors before us were about to leave, the cashier said: "Ah, you dropped something", and behind the leaving customer there was a 1000 yen bill on the floor. Which turned out to be a trick art painting, of course. But it looked very real, haha.

This was the standard pose here

This was a non-standard pose

The cashier asked me if I like dragons, since I had a huge dragon embroidery on my shorts and a bag with dragons on it to hold my magic props. I replied that I like dragons but normally wear mostly sakura (cherry blossoms). The shorts have sakura too.

Standard pose, attacked by skeleton

Second try, imitating skeleton

My favorite idea, proposing to the skeleton

Suggested pose: trying to hold the rokurokubi down.

Pose that made the people behind us laugh a bit

Trying to escape the mouth

Being swallowed

Pulling the painted tablecloth

Feeding the penguins with painted fish

Original idea for the finger painting

This person in a red shirt is just a painting, but looked real even when looking at it with your own eyes.

Stealing a polar bear baby

Standard pose

Pose taken by young girls also visiting the museum

Koala climbing on your head

Slipping into the shark's mouth

Again

This was supposed to be me keeping the shark mouth open with my legs, but the angle/position is completely wrong...

Almost saved by my friend

Almost saved again

Trapped in a glass

When we took this photo, the guy helping us told my friend over and over small details of her posing. "Left hand more to the right". "Hands more forward". "Knees more towards the wall". To me he said nothing. But my pose required less attention to detail perhaps?

Next, we switched poses. And he kept telling my friend what to do. And said nothing to me. Maybe I am just great at posing?

In this exhibit, I first stood on both hands. My friend suggested that "surely it looks better if you lift the left hand". And then there were lots of "A little bit higher" "Too high." "A little bit more forward". So I ended up doing pushups on one hand for quite some time. No wonder I always end up with sore muscles the day after I go to these exhibitions...

The head of Jonas in a box. 

Jonas producing a head in a box

For this photo, the guy working there was very helpful in posing us, but the resulting photo that he took is so blurry you would guess it was taken by a child not used to cameras...

More animals climbing on me

Tickled by a gorilla

The suggested pose was "feeding the giraffe", but this was funnier, I thought.

The stuff I bought in the gift shop