The Urumaichi Tateishikawa History & Folklore Museum
Friday - March 17, 2017
It's always good to have a back-up plan. The primary plan for this Friday was that Michael Martin from Furugen would
drive up to meet Michael Lynch from Kin Town and me at Bios on the Hill. That's a place that I had read about
and wanted to see this year. Well, the weather dictated otherwise. My primary goal at Bios was to take a ride
on the boat through the jungle. Not such a good thing to do when it's raining - if they even take the boats out in the rain.
That brings us to Plan B. I spent a little time that morning scoping out other things of interest. While I drank my coffee
and ate my Spam & eggs I poured over sites and attractions in Uruma. Remember, Uruma was this year's focus. The
Urumaichi Tateishikawa History & Folklore Museum sounded like a good place to stay in from the rain and learn some-
thing new. I hoped only that when I got there (assuming I'd find the place) there would be English-language signage.
Ima... ikimashou!
If you've been following my trip diary videos then you recognized the drive out of Konbu. Usually though,
I turn left at that light. In this case I turned right and we're heading north on Rte 255 to find the museum.
I had "Google walked" to the museum before leaving the house and had a few notes to remind me how
to get there. Between looking for car lots, lumber yard and a dental office I was sure I'd get there, but it
turned out that I had to, as usual, turn around after having gone past my destination. But, hey!, I got there!
So, after parking I went into the building and approached the first "official-looking" place, a window to a small
room occupied by a woman who had been eating her lunch. Ooops! Gomennasai. But she was gracious
and pointed me in the right direction. She was a custodial worker who was familiar with everything in that
building so she was very helpful. She didn't speak a lick of English and I thought that maybe that didn't bode
well for my hopes of finding English-language materials in the museum. We'll see. Never give up hope, eh?
I got off of the elevator and was immediately met by some pretty cool displays with signage totally in nihango
Apparently I forgot the word "press" when I encountered the sugar cane press on display. Also, the movies that
I have of the sugar cane press that I talked about are from the SEVENTIES - not the 80s as I had stated. Tsk!
There being no English-language guidance I simply walked through the museum and tried my best to interpret.
So, c'mon along and we'll take a look at things together. Anything that you see/read and understand, please...
This clip is of some things that were on display at the reception area, before getting into the museum proper.
Included was a cool model of a grain storage building like the one we saw during the Ryukyu Village and the
Murasaki Mura visits. I like the way they did the thatched roof. Some other local handicrafts are shown too.
Now, moving along to the inner sanctum...
The next clips are pretty quick walk-through views which will be followed by photos. Once again, if you can
explain and/or interpret some of the information, please send it along to me and I'll include it in this feature.
