Family Fun at Little World Museum of Man

Oct 17, 2016

Family Fun at Little World Museum of Man

Have you ever wanted to take the kids to Italy for the day? How about showing them the cultures of France, Germany or Korea? While, thanks to technology, the world is getting smaller, it could be argued that living in Japan it is difficult to show our young families the world beyond these shores. This is perhaps the reasoning behind the Little World Museum of Man, an amusement park in Inuyama, Aichi that looks beyond the borders and across the seas to the great wide world out there.

What is Little World Museum of Man?

At Little World Museum of Man (リトルワールド or ‘ritoruwārudo’), the world truly is your oyster. Along a two and a half kilometer (about 1.5 miles) walk you get to experience interesting cultures and exciting peculiarities from all around the world. From India to Peru, from Taiwan to Italy, there is barely a part of the globe that is not represented in this fun open air museum of an amusement park.

Along the path you will find a collection of unique regional villages featuring over 30 authentically recreated houses, buildings and cultural structures, many of which have been relocated from their original sites around the globe, shipped to Inuyama, and expertly recreated here. Particularly impressive are the Nepalese Buddhist Monastery, the mud huts of the Burkino Faso Kassena compound, and the German Bayern village.

What to do at Little World Museum of Man

As extraordinary as viewing these buildings is, there is much more to the park than a two and a half kilometer wander through the architecture. In fact there is plenty of interactive entertainment to take part in.

Many ‘countries’ have their own regional restaurants, folk craft souvenir shops, and attractions. This means that you can taste Turkish treats, indulge in Italian edibles, or gorge on German goodies; or you can even dress up in the local costume of some of the most sartorially interesting nations on Earth.

Of course, this being a Japanese amusement park there are also plenty of souvenir shops to pick up trinkets on your way round, and as a way of keeping younger children interested (and perhaps out of the gift shops) you can take your Little World ‘Passport’ everywhere you travel, and if you collect enough stamps you may be in for a small prize at the end of your trip.

If all the traveling by foot is too much for you, you can always take the Little World Bus around the course, getting on or off at any stop you wish, and if you are too tired, why not sit down in front of the stage area and watch an ever changing line up of performers from all over the world playing music, performing dances and acrobatics.

Details

• Website: www.littleworld.jp
• Admission: Adults 1,700 JPY; Seniors 1,300 JPY; High school and foreign students 1,100 JPY; Junior high and elementary school students 700 JPY; Children (3+) 300JPY
• Getting there: You can get to Inuyama from Nagoya by Meitetsu train (approximately 30min).From there you can take a Gifu Community bus heading for Little World (approximately 20min)
• 〒484-0005 Aichi Prefecture, Inuyama, Imai, Narisawa 90−48 (map link)
• +81 (0)568-62-5611

Image – via Facebook – Modified Image http://www.littleworld.jp/english/exhibition/lw_en_map.pdf – Modified