The facade of Honjo Bosaikan
One of the interesting or uniques experiences I had during my 5th trip to Tokyo, was visiting the Honjo Bosaikan (Life Safety Learning Center) I personally would translate/describe it as an "Emergency Preparedness Center" here you can learn about how to be safe in emergencies!
There are three Bosaikan in Tokyo, I believe the best known is the one in Ikebukuro and its mentioned in a couple travel guides I've seen. But I went to the one in Honjo as it was closer to my place.
The lobby of the Honjo Bosaikan, complete with souvenirs
Luckily or unluckily I went on a day when a big group of Middle Schoolers were having their field trip there. On the good point it made a more interesting experience, on the other it made me revert to my nervous awkward 14 year old self haha!
Getting into the earthquake simulator
When touring the Honjo Bosaikan you will view a cheesy movie about a young boy who survives an earthquake in Tokyo because he was prepared, and then you will learn how to prepare yourslef through hands-on activities. Because it's hands-on it's more interesting and a good way to learn about bad situations.
The first learning activity we did was the earthquake simulator room. It was a small diningroom area that you'd enter and when the fake earth starts you have to dive under the table with pillows on your head. I was with a group with all pre-teen boys, they had fun doing it, but I opted out...haha!
Having fun surviving the earthquake
Putting out a fake fire!
The most embarrassing activity for me was the fire hydrant tutorial. You get a fire hydrant then you have to run at a big screen with fake fire on it and "put it out". You were also supposed to shout something.
Well I didn't shout and I sauntered over instead of running. I was all like "I'm a cool person, please don't laugh at me you preteen boys!!" ...didn't work.
Then it was the typhoon simulation, which was basically putting on rain gear and having a high-pressure water hose sprayed at you. It was ok, nothing that special or embarrassing haha.
I honestly don't get what Iron Man has to do with anything...haha!
Finally we had to go through a smoke maze, that one was my favorite. It wasn't difficult at all because the way out was shown with lights/signs so I got out really quickly. The guide said I was so quick and everyone laugh, I felt less awkward atleast haha!
I think this is a very fun place to visit if you like physical activities and learning, or if you like museums as it has that kind of atmosphere. Not all places experience earthquakes or typhoons, but this was a great way to spend an afternoon doing something different ^^
Access Info:
Yokokawa 4-6-6, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-0003
Tel: 03-3621-0119
