Summer vacation is almost gone. Children are tired of play; parents are waiting for September — yet the last gate remains. Yes: summer homework. In every age, children chased by homework and parents
prodding them have been a late-August scene.
Old elementary school had “summer picture diaries.” You could invent what you “did” and train imagination — but somehow you wanted the weather box filled with the real weather. In the no-internet decades, a Mainichi regional page on August 29 once gave half a page to vacation weather and highs and lows as a reader service. The source was, of course, the local observatory.
Next door but one to Palaceside Building is the Japan Meteorological Agency, headquarters of observatories. There you find a strong homework ally, the Meteorological Science Museum. No reservation. No admission. Come here and “independent research” is as good as done. If it goes well, you might
write about three projects…
JMA mascot Harerun greets you; first measure your height on the snow-depth gauge. It is meant for snow, but it tells height accurately too. There are tsunami and earthquake simulators, and a box where you feel the fear of sudden, violent rain (localized downpours). It recreates recent Tokyo and other local cloudbursts and teaches what to do. Volcano and Antarctic corners are very educational. On top of that a staff meteorologist comes over — “Any questions?” — and that day several parent-child groups were there.
The museum is on the first floor of the JMA (1-3-4 Otemachi, Chiyoda). Open year-round except year-end and New Year, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. The nearest station is Takebashi on the Tozai Line, the same as Palaceside Building.