It had been a while since my last visit to Yokohama. Although it was very close to Tokyo it didn’t make into my itineraries for the last few trips. This time we decided to spend a whole day in Yokohama for Stephanie by visiting the Cup Noodle Museum and Yokohama Anpanman Children’s Museum.
Located about half an hour south of Tokyo (by train), on the western coast of Tokyo Bay, Yokohama (横浜市) is the second largest city in Japan by population. It is well known by its beautiful night views of the bay and the great Ferris wheel (Cosmo Clock 21) – symbols of Yokohama city. This port town not only offers quality living for its residents, but also offers a various of interesting tourist attractions.
!!! CUPNOODLES MUSEUM
The Cup Noodle Museum is an interactive museum where you can learn everything about cup noodles, create your own original cup noodle and make your own instant noodle from scratch. It is only 8 minutes walk from the Minatomirai line Minatomirai Station (みなとみらい駅) or Bashamichi Station (馬車道駅).
The Instant Noodle History Cube exhibit displays a selection of over 3,000 instant noodle packages from around the world. Its Momofuku theater shows a short film of the instant noodle history and tell the story of how Momofuku Ando overcame all the failures to achieve the inventions that brought a revolution in culinary culture of the world. Right outside of the theater, there is recreation of the work shed where Chicken Ramen, the world’s first instant noodle, was invented.
My CUPDNOODLES Factory is one of the popular activities at the museum. It allows you to create your very own original CUPNOODLES package by design your cup and select your favorite soup+toppings combination from a variety of soup flavors and ingredients.
!!! CUPNOODLES MUSEUM English Brochure, from !!! CUPNOODLES MUSEUM Official Website
If designing your own CUPNOODLES package is not enough, you can also particulate in Chicken Ramen Factory workshop to make your very own noodles by hand from scratch. After all the fun work, you can take your fresh made noodles home to enjoy.
The museum also features a small selection of modern art pieces which represent the six key ideas that inspired Momofuku Ando’s endless curiosity and creative thinking.
Yokohama Anpanman Children’s Museum
Anpanman is a superhero whose head is made of anpan (あんパン) – a Japanese sweet bread filled with red bean paste. It is one of the most popular anime series for young children in Japan. The anime has been on the air in Japan continuously since 1988. With more than 1,000 aired episodes, Anpanman remains one of the most popular fiction characters among people ago 0 to 12 in Japan. Not to mention the anime series is also fairly well-known among other East Asia countries.
The Yokohama Anpanman Children’s Museum is one of the several Anpanman Museums in Japan. The museum located in a small shopping mall where you will find almost everything related to Anpanman – bookstore, gift shops, kids salons, restaurants, bakery & café, etc.
Admission for Anpanman Museum is ¥1,500 for age 1 and older (admission to the shopping mall is free), while children between age 1 and 12 are given a complimentary Anpanman souvenir with their purchases.
The complimentary souvenir they gave away during the time we visited was a mini (plastic) tambourine Anpanman toy. Stephanie was happy with her mini Anpanman tambourine.
We thought the 3-floored museum has quite a lot to do for a 2-year old. At the top floor there are rows of colorful stationary figures of characters from the Anpanman anime series.
The 2nd floor has a Anpanman town-like set-up of interactive displays where children can pretend to work in the kid-size shops.
At the corner of the 2nd floor, there is a Kids Room area (キーズルーム) well-suited for babies and toddlers.
On the 1st floor, beside the small indoor play area and the rainbow slides, there is also a stage where you get to enjoy the Anpanman live performance 4 times a day.
Visiting the Anpanman Museum was definitely a fun day for Stephanie. For me, the most exciting part of the day was visiting the UNCLE JAM’S BAKERY. Yep, I am a true foodie!
