Picture Book Museum "Mado no soto no sono mata mukō"

The Picture Book Museum "Mado no soto no sono mata mukō" (絵本美術館 まどのそとのそのまたむこう, literally "beyond the window, and beyond again") is the dream of Maki Rei (巻レイ), former director of three kindergartens in Iwaki: Iwaki (いわき), Shirabara (白ばら) and Alice (ありす). It opened in 2005 as an annex of the three schools, after thirty years of planning.

Finding the site took ten years. When she found the rise in Toyoma (豊間) that she wanted, convinced that only Tadao Ando could make the most of the view, she wrote to him by express mail: she says she has always held imagination to be the most important nourishment for a person's growth, and wanted to restore it to the adults who spend long hours with children as well. Ando phoned the very day the letter arrived, visited the site a week later and, back in Osaka, answered the next day: "Let us help make this dream come true" (夢のお手伝いをしましょう).

The building stands on a rise in Toyoma with a sweeping view of the Pacific. It has one storey above ground and a basement, but the central void, as tall as a three-storey building, changes the scale: five floor levels are linked there by seven staircases, which let you descend in a spiral. Everything is in view without being easy to reach, in a maze where adults, the museum warns, are bound to get lost.

Two levels of gallery, designed with the engawa (縁側), the wooden veranda of Japanese houses, in mind, surround the void. Some rooms face the Pacific and its sunlight, others the green mountains. From the tea room, the Shioyasaki lighthouse (塩屋埼灯台), the setting of the film 喜びも悲しみも幾年月, stands straight ahead. At the top, a loft is open only to the oldest kindergarten class. The building combines exposed reinforced concrete, glass and wood.

Children from the three kindergartens arrive by school bus and delight in the read-aloud sessions. About 1,500 picture books cover the walls; one whole wall is given over to cats, and shelves of teacups hold Peter Rabbit or Winnie-the-Pooh. On public days, visitors come from all over the world.

The museum serves the children first: it opens to the public only on days when they are not using it. You must write in advance: send a reply postcard (往復はがき) with your address, name and contact details to the museum (〒970-0224 福島県いわき市平豊間字合磯209-42); an invitation giving the date and time is sent back. Admission is free.

By car, allow about 30 minutes from the Iwaki-Yumoto interchange (18 km); the car park has 50 spaces, with no parking for coaches. By bus, the line from JR Iwaki Station towards Onahama via Ena takes about 40 minutes to the Futamigaura (二見ケ浦) stop, a short walk from the museum.