Tokyo Toy Store

I arrived in Tokyo last night, with one day to explore before we begin work tomorrow morning. I am here to chair the audiovisual juries for the JAPAN PRIZE, the premier international competition for educational media, convened by the public broadcaster NHK. I'll be posting from here over the next week, though I have to be circumspect since JAPAN PRIZE is not an "everyone watches, everyone discusses, everyone votes" contest like PRIX JEUNESSE.

I spent a bit of my day at one of Tokyo's biggest toy stores, on the Ginza, to see what's hot here. Mostly, the rule seems to be "if it's cute, make it move."









That said, there's still room for old fashioned "acoustic" (as oppposed to electronic) play. This one, I suspect, is meant for adults rather than kids...a pachinko-style decision-maker.



















Then, for those who have trouble waking up, there's this digital clock and target...it comes complete with the gun. "Tell me why I don't like Mondays"?