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Bipasha Kaur Chatterjee
University of Tokyo
College of Arts and Sciences
14 February 2017

Looking at Gender Norms in Hana Yori Dango
Introduction:
Visual media culture in Japan reached a new high in the 18th century when manga wasdeveloped in the form of ukiyo-e prints. During the early period of its creation, the genres
available were limited, however, with the unprecedented growth of print media, the mangaindustry and its audiences expanded, and a market full of numerous genres developed. One of
the most popular genres has been shōjo, which first came into existence through Osamu
Tezuka’s Ribon no Kishi in 1953. Although it was initially created by men, in a matter ofyears, from around 1969, shōjo became a genre that was drawn predominantly by women for
women (Thorn, 2001).
Although the market for most other types of print media has suffered a decline, themarket for manga has remained consistently strong. Shōjo manga has continued to be ofparticular importance since almost 30% of all manga publications belong to this genre (Choo,
2008). Furthermore, it has been recreated in the form of TV dramas, anime, and cinema,
which has helped in creating a much larger market for its stories. Due to this, the audiencethat may have been influenced from shōjo as a genre has been large. This has been especiallytrue for Kamio Yoko’s Hana Yori Dango, which has been one of the best-selling shōjo mangaof all time, and as a result of its immense popularity, it has also been adapted into an anime, aTV drama, and a movie. Foreign audiences such as those in South Korea or Taiwan have also
supported the series, and its popularity in these places has been visible since Korean orFINAL REPORT!1

Taiwanese reproductions of Hana Yori Dango have also been produced. Therefore, Hana Yori
Dango would be the most appropriate example to investigate what shōjo manga has aimed to
do and what it has actually achieved in terms of the influence it has had on its audiences.
In this essay, the way gender is played by the characters of Hana Yori Dango, in the
manga as well as the Japanese TV drama version, shall be analysed. In addition, the author’s
intentions and the researcher’s analysis shall be explained. Various sub-themes present in thestory shall be investigated to examine how they may be connected to the concept of gendernorms.

Connecting Gender and the Role of Media:
Before one begins to talk about gender, it is important to talk about the difference
between sex and gender. Sex can be defined as the biological and physiological difference
while gender can be understood as a social construction. Thus, gender usually carries with it
expectations created by the respective societies it occurs in. Another point of difference isthat sex stays stable in terms of its definition, however, interpretations of gender keepchanging with time (Kimmel, 2001). Although, the most significant difference would be thatthe concept of gender establishes a hierarchy, which contributes to the creation of unequal
status in the society.
Since gender is something that is consciously constructed, it is necessary for the society
to use various tools to entrench the idea and depict it as something “organic” and“fundamental.” One of the best techniques to achieve this is through repeated exposure to
specific ideas and following this up with proper regulation through social rewards andpunishments. Media can be a very important tool to embed norms this way since it has accessto large populations and can, therefore, influence their perceptions over time. It is believed
FINAL REPORT!2

that media usually maintains the existing social structures and hierarchies in a society rather
than to question or change them (Saito, 2007).

The Author’s Intentions:
The author and manga artist of Hana Yori Dango was interviewed by the researcher in
December 2016. The findings from this interview were mostly about what the author
intended to portray in the manga and how she expected it to be understood by the readers.
The author wished to avoid any direct quotations from the interview therefore only theinterpretations of her answers by the researcher have been discussed in this section.
Kamio Yoko had hoped to create typical shōjo manga characters, however as she began
creating Hana Yori Dango she realised that her characters were typical but still not quite so.
The manga became filled with characters that were relatable yet refreshing, which was not
something she had initially planned to do, but due to the warm reception of these types ofcharacters by the audiences, she continued to create them this way. She believed that mangastories should be something that match the reader’s expectations and these are often
connected to the problems of that time period, which in her case was bullying. Thus, as an
author, she was aware of this problem and wanted to portray it to make the manga relatable
for the readers. However, she purposely also included instances that were exaggerations ofreality since she believed that manga was supposed to be more of a fantasy than reality. The
author was also largely convinced that shōjo manga could not influence the society which is
why its goal rarely was to change people’s ways of thinking. Rather, this job was better left tothe novelists and manga was made to be all about enjoying the reading experience. She also
felt that shōjo manga did not have enough power to change the perspectives of women in thesociety since it was read by a mostly adolescent audience.

FINAL REPORT!3

The author was quite aware of the importance of appearances in manga. Since shōjomanga characters are usually supposed to be “cute” she felt she was required to follow thatpattern. However, she also felt if she made the female protagonist, Makino Tsukushi, too“cute” then she would become too distant from the reality of the young female readers. Thus,
to keep her relatable, Kamio made Tsukushi a lot more “plain” looking than the usual shōjomanga protagonists. Tsukushi was created in a way that she was neither too thin nor too“beautiful” but just on the borderline so that she could be “cute” if she tried.
There was also an understanding of the extremely far-fetched notion of putting romance
before everything. The author knew that this was definitely different from real life situationsof the readers, however, she had received immense support as well as requests from the fans
to focus on the romance side of the story more than anything else. The author originallywanted to write about Tsukushi’s academic goals and career plans but she thought that juniorhigh and high school students, who were the intended audience for the manga, were too
young to think about such matters. She was also concerned that if she included these ideas,
they would take away the fantasy aspect and it would no longer be the “dream world” thatmanga was supposed to be. Other aspects that were created far from reality included theabsence of consent. Kamio was aware that in the real world such actions would be wrong but
she felt that readers enjoyed bold scenes with dominating boyfriends and kabedon becausethat would never happen to them in real life as Japanese men were too shy in their approach.
She did feel that if these were to be real then it would be terrible since non-consensual actions
are not right, however, since many readers wrote to her claiming that they were waiting forthese scenes, she continued to create them in the story.

FINAL REPORT!4

The Role of Appearance
The characters are the essence of any story, and it is their performance of gender roles
that makes them relatable (or not relatable) for the audience. In the case of this story,
relations to “established” gender roles are clearly visible. To give a brief idea as to what isbeing seen as “established,” traits associated to femininity and masculinity in Japan can be
discussed. Femininity is linked to traits such as gentleness, purity, and fragility; while
masculinity is linked to being independent, experienced, and strong. However, in the manga,
all these traits are also heavily related to the appearance of a character, and not just the sex
and gender. Thus, what is observed is not just the performance of gender, but also a spillover
effect based on the appearance of the character (Choo, 2008). One of the best examples forunderstanding this effect would be the case of Domyōji Tsubaki, Tōdō Shizuka andHanazawa Rui. Tsubaki, who is portrayed as a strong and violent woman, is often depicted ina very “masculine” fashion (Picture 1). While Rui, who is seen as this gentle boy often has
the quintessential “feminine” look to him (Picture 2).
It is important to note that these aspects are not equally recreated in the drama version,
wherein Rui is portrayed in the gentlemanly manner with a somewhat less masculine
appearance, but both Tōdō Shizuka and Domyōji Tsubaki remain considerably feminine bothin terms of their appearance as well as their behaviour. This incongruity between the mangaand drama maybe attributed to the difference in their respective target audiences. While themanga caters to a relatively younger spectrum of individuals from 12 to 18 year olds, thedrama focuses on working women who are most likely to be from their early to their late 20s.
The most interesting difference would be the fact that the drama got rid of the scene
where Shizuka declares that she wants to be an international lawyer in a huge party, cuts herhair short in front of everyone almost as sign of abandoning her “femininity” and embraces
FINAL REPORT!5

the rational “masculinity,” that is the field of law. Instead, in the drama it becomes a private,
intimate announcement and there is no sign of Shizuka symbolically cutting ties with her“femininity.” In the manga by doing what she did, she exemplifies her independence from herfamily, strength of her own ambitions, and a disregard for societal standards of what defines awoman. From a typically “feminine” female, she went to the idealised form of a “masculine”
female. Thus, while the manga appears to challenge the accepted norms of the society, thedrama functions to maintain the status quo, even if these are unintentional consequences dueto the limits of the medium.1 This is in line with the ideas proposed by Shinichi Saito,“...With regard to attitudes toward gender roles, television tends to decelerate social change
by cultivating traditional views among many viewers” (Saito, 2007).

Picture 1: Domyōji Tsubaki

Picture 2: Hanazawa Rui

1 Dramas need to fit a lot of information in a shorter frame of time while manga can have much more elaborate

storylines since there are no temporal restrictions.
FINAL REPORT!6

Female Masculinity: Creating the Ideal Fantasies
The idea of female masculinity becomes an important topic all through the manga since
it has several scenes in which the female characters transgress beyond the traditionalboundaries of their gender. However, it is important to remember that by challenging thestatus quo these women are not just appropriating “masculinity” but rather they are creating
an ideal that other women can admire. This has been an integral part of various sorts ofmedias in Japan including the Takarazuka Revue. The female actors who play male roles,
called otokoyaku become the idealised versions of male, and the fans revel in these fantasies
due to their unavailability in real life (Darling-Wolf, 2004). Similarly, it could be said that thecase of strong female characters plays an identical role by providing other female charactersas well as the readers with an ideal they can admire. It is observable even within the manga
itself since Makino Tsukushi states how she feels “akogare” (admiration) towards both
Domyōji Tsubaki and Tōdō Shizuka as they portray certain aspects of masculinity despite
being females.

The Female Body: Dependence, Virtue, and Aesthetic Value
Issues related to the female body are another important point to debate upon. While themanga tackles the issue of dependence of female characters on male characters considerably
well, the TV drama fails to do so. The drama portrays heavy dependence of not just theprotagonist but even female side characters. This is especially true when Matsuoka Yuuki
gets help from Nishikado Sōjirō to get revenge on her ex-boyfriend but ends up falling inlove with Sōjirō. The relationship not only showed dependence but even portrayed the gender
traits discussed earlier, since Sōjirō is a playboy and Yuuki is innocent. Although rare, we dosee some instances of the male characters depending on the female ones, such as the scene
FINAL REPORT!7

where Domyōji Tsukasa falls sick and Makino Tsukushi takes care of him. However, thisportrayal too can be tied to traditional notions of gender roles since the female is seen as
inherently affectionate and “motherly.” It is this latter characteristic that becomes of utmost
significance since it shows how the dependence in this case recreates the existing models ofgender present in Japanese society. Therefore, what is highlighted is not the weakness of themale, but rather, the latent “motherly" compassion within the female, which does notnecessarily signify strength or weakness of the female but merely the existence of the“innate” quality of being a “good mother”.
The second issue with female body is that of innocence and purity. When Makino
Tsukushi ends up spending the night with a man in a hotel she says, “Atashi no karada ga
yogoreteshimatteru” (My body has been polluted). Although this line only appears in the
manga, it is repeated on several occasions almost to imply the inherent virtuousness of being“pure” in terms of sexual experiences for a woman. In the TV drama this message comes
across when Tsukushi screams “Mada shōjo dayo” (I am still virgin). Since the manga is
aimed at a teenage audience it is in line with what the society deems as unacceptablebehaviour and may be done to reinforce these ideas. However, in the drama which is aimed ata relatively older audience, this does not necessarily function as a means for reinforcement oftraditional values on the audience, instead, it is consumed as pure fiction without muchcorrelation to real life circumstances since the contexts of the audience and the characters aredifferent. This does not mean that the older audience does not agree with the existing notionthat teenage girls should not be engaged in sexual activities, it simply means that these ideas
do not apply to them anymore nor do they represent their own lives since they are no longer
teenagers.

FINAL REPORT!8

The third issue is the lack of different body types among female characters even though
we do see at least two types of male body types, a thin one and a muscular one. It is the samewith the idea of facial beauty, wherein the main insults directed toward female characters arethose related to beauty while there is not as much stress on male beauty. Although this may
not necessarily convey anything about gender relations, it does show the expectations thatsociety puts on women to be aesthetically pleasing while there is considerably less pressure
on men. While this may solely be due to the lack of necessity for more diverse type ofrepresentation since Japan has one of the lowest obesity rates in the world (Central
Intelligence Agency, 2008), it still implies that there is a strong association between being
thin and being attractive. It is this implication that may put pressure on women and even leadthem towards eating disorders. Therefore, it is not surprising that the problem of eating
disorders has been increasing in Japan (Mazumdar, 2016). While other modes of media suchas certain magazines are trying to encourage women to accept their bodies, this phenomenon
remains untouched in both shōjo manga and TV dramas. In fact, on television, most of theshows that feature larger women are variety shows which often make fun of these women or
show their transformations to “beautiful girls.”

Absence of Consent
This is probably the most perplexing issue out of all. All through the manga as well as
the anime, absence of consent comes up several times. Whether it is about a male character
lifting up a female character, kissing, hugging, declaring that they are in a relationship, it is
all just done by the male characters without the agreement of the female. The problem getseven deeper when the protagonist, Makino Tsukushi, after being kissed forcefully says toherself, “Kō naru koto kokoro no dokoka de nozondeitano kamoshirenai” (Maybe I wanted
FINAL REPORT!9this as well), which not only makes it a situation where there has been disregard of consent
but the female herself starts to question her own conceptions about it. As baffling as it may
seem though, since it is consumed as mere fiction in the Japanese context, such portrayal
does not disturb the audience.

Conclusion
Hence, through these understandings what can be observed is that there can beoccasional discrepancies between what the author intended to create, how the television
media recreated it, and how all of this is perceived by the audiences. While the manga seems
to include more transgressions which may actually be in line with the audience’s selfperception, the TV drama is much closer to the reality in terms of the norms it portrays
despite the unrealistic storyline in the context of Japan. However, it is important to note thatone significant limitation of this essay is that due to the difference in the social background of
the researcher, the understanding of certain concepts might be very different from that of theJapanese audiences.

Bibliography:
1. Choo, K. (2008). Girls Return Home: Portrayal of Femininity in Popular Japanese Girls’
Manga and Anime Texts during the 1990s in Hana yori Dango and Fruits Basket. Women:
A Cultural Review, 19(3), pp.275-296.
2. Darling-Wolf, F. (2004). Women and New Men: Negotiating Masculinity in the JapaneseMedia. The Communication Review, 7(3), pp.285-303.
3. Hana Yori Dango. (2005). [TV Drama] Japan: TBS.
4. Hana Yori Dango Returns. (2007). [TV Drama] Japan: TBS.
5. Kamio, Y. (1992). Hana Yori Dango Volume 1-37. Tōkyō: Shūeisha.
6. Kimmel, M. (2001). Gender ideology: Cross-cultural aspect. In: N. Smelser and P. Baltes,
ed., International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences, 14th ed. New York:
Elsevier Science Ltd., pp.9318–9321.

FINAL REPORT!10

7. Mazumdar, T. (2016). Fear over eating disorder care in Japan - BBC News. [online] BBC
News. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-36095287 [Accessed 25 Jan. 2017].
8. Saito, S. (2007). Television and the Cultivation of Gender-Role Attitudes in Japan: Does
Television Contribute to the Maintenance of the Status Quo?. Journal of Communication,
57(3), pp.511-531.
9. Thorn, M. (2001). Shojo Manga - Something for Girls. Japan Quarterly, 48(3).

FINAL REPORT!11Museum Experiencethrough Treasure Hunting

Shubham Trivedi

Preface
Millions of people visit museums all over the world every week. Museums inspire the curious minds of our current generation with the deeds
and ideas of past generations. Bearing such immense responsibilities,
the design of museum experience becomes significant. Museums mustnot be mere books of history and culture. They must exhibit a dynamic experience capable of exciting the curiosity of the future generations
about our fantastic achievements and thus inspire the posterity to attaineven greater accomplishments. This study explores an alternate dynamic experience design for museum exploration utilizing the concept ofgamification through treasure hunting. Popular museums in Tokyo aresurveyed and possible venues for application of this experience design
are identified. The process of experience design is carried out and a test
-run is organized at a museum venue. Hurdles encountered in the design process and the concluding participant responses are discussed tosuggest possible improvements for a more effective experience design.

IndexPreface1

1 Introduction

3

2 Design

8

3 Conclusion

17

Appendix20

Introduction

1

Before any discussion on the proposed experience design for museums
may be taken up, it is imperative to explain the need for a new experience design and the objectives of this study. In this chapter, museum
experience in the present times and its inherent shortcomings would be
briefly discussed followed by an introduction to the art of treasure hunting and its fundamental characteristics. Finally, using this introduction
as background, objectives of this study would be enlisted.

1.1 Museusms of the world
Museums have been collecting, preserving and exhibiting various arts
and artifacts around the world for over 2000 years. Even though mostancient museums began as private collections closed to the general public, most of the museums today are open for public viewing and are visited by millions of people of various age groups every week all over theworld.
Museums in present times exist to serve various purposes. From collection and preservation of ancient artifacts to the exhibition of latest works
of art, from the display of popular scientific principles to the exhibitionof religious artifacts. While different types of museums have different
primary objectives, one common aim binding all the public museums isMost modern museums have thesame static experience design

nonetheless present. All public museums inevitably aim to enhance thepublic’s awareness of cultures and understanding of our modern world.
Museums aim to engage the curiosity of the visitor and astound themwith the glorious displays of various arts, artifacts or reproductions ofscientific phenomenon. Younger generations can take inspiration fromthe fantastic scientific and cultural achievements to attain even greater
heights in the future.
While this noble objective is commendable, measures employed by mostmodern museums to achieve the same are less so. Most of the museums
treat their visitors with a rather static experience. While the artifacts at
display may be exotic and the collection exquisitely exhibited, the visitor
experience still consists of merely browsing through the elements of themuseum at one’s leisure. Such an experience is akin to reading a bookof history, albeit a glorious one. Despite the fantastic representation andbrilliant realism of most exhibitions, their reception is inherently dependent upon the sincerity and personal enthusiasm of the visitors.
Another drawback of such experiences is the short length of time overwhich the subject impresses on the mind of the visitor. Even the most4

amazing display of museum collections would fade with time and with
it any chances of learning or inspiration.

1.2 Treasure hunting
Earliest forms of treasure hunting appeared as searches for treasures ofimmense value thought to be hidden or misplaced by the nobility fromancient times. The key aspect of such hunts was the motivation for a big
prize that drove searches far beyond the supposed capabilities of the human minds to solve even the most obscure clues in order to expose thehidden treasure1. Such campaigns could be organized only by professionals and would have been beyond the common people. However, thesuccessful multiple broadcasts of the American Gameshow “Treasure
1. Easton, D. F. “Heinrich Schliemann: Hero or Fraud?” The Classi- Hunt” which televised sponsored treasure competitions finally brought
cal World 91, no. 5 (1998): 335-43.
doi:10.2307/4352102.
widespread popularity to treasure hunting among the general public.
Treasure hunts have emerged in numerous forms in recent times. Froma fun event for a group of kids with nothing more than a few toys to be
won to national events involving a number of participants competingfor a grand prize, all forms of treasure hunting are based on the same

2. Sharma, Sunita, and Jo Geneen.
“Team London Ambassadors hunt concept of using the allurement of a prize to lead to the solution of comfor a world record title.” London &Partners - Telling London’s story plicated riddles. Recently, treasure hunting has also been organized asbrilliantly. June 25, 2012.
2

an entertaining way to explore a place or as team building games .

While treasure hunts can be incredibly fun activities, their educational
capabilities are also immense. In treasure hunts, similar to the phenomenon observed in design of video games, human behavior challenged by adifficult mission can persevere to great lengths while pursuing the target
objective. Such an experience, with appropriate modifications in design,
may also be applied in an educational sphere where the subjects are challenged with riddles closely related to the educational objectives. Within a treasure hunt experience design, the participants may be induced5

to search for and discover the educational objectives by themselves as
if in self-study environment. In contrast to the self-study environment
though, there is no requirement of any strong personal motivation on
the part of the participant to continue the study. Instead, participants
are allured by the object of treasure hunting. Such an experience design
not only makes the educational activity fun, but also ensures continued
learning after the event as the participants learn the charm of self-learning and self-exploration.

1.3 Objecives of the study
With this background on the role of museums in spreading culturalawareness and the lack of dynamism in the current museum experience,an innovative new dynamic experience design based on the principle oftreasure hunting is explored. In this design, the participants are required
to search for and analyze information about the museum artifacts on
display in order to answer the treasure-leading quest being posed. Suchan experience is bound to not only enhance learning through single
museum visits but also excite the participant’s curiosity to continue thelearning and exploration of the information about the artifacts on theirown even after the visit.
Primary objectives of this study may be expressed as follows:
Test run: Primary objective of this research is to evaluate the feasibility of applying a treasure hunt based museum experience design to themuseums in Tokyo. Basics of a treasure hunt design are explored fromscratch and the design is suitably modified to comply with a museum
background. Riddles targeting the educational objectives are designed
as a part of the experience design. Appropriate museum venues are also
examined and a test run is staged to evaluate the feasibility of treasurehunt experience design.
Analysis: Based on this preliminary design and test run, the observed
response and experienced design obstacles are discussed and future ap-

6

proaches for a more effective treasure hunt design are suggested.

7

Design2This chapter forms the core of this report. Entire process of treasure hunt
design from reconnaissance to test run organization is detailed here. The
treasure hunt design is broadly divided into three stages: primary reconnaissance of the various museums in Tokyo to determine suitable venues
at which the event could be organized, detailed background study on theselected museum for riddle formulation, and finally the on-site event
organization to examine the practical feasibility of the event design.

2.1 Stage I: ReconnaissanceTokyo, being the capital city of the nation and a center of modern art andculture, is home to more than a hundred organized museums. While art
museums form the majority of the numbers, wide categories are still exhibited in ample numbers. From the museums of history preserving theartifacts from the past to a number of museums of science, sports andmusic exhibiting the achievements of modern world in their respective
fields, wide of range of experiences are available within the city.
While all museums have their specialties that make them impossible tocompare with any other, a shortlisting was carried out for the purpose of
efficient reconnaissance. Major museums hosting significant collections
were selected as the primary candidates. Some museums of smaller size

but hosting items of importance such as national treasures were also
included. Locations of the shortlisted museums are illustrated on a mapof Tokyo on the following page. While most of the museums are locatedwithin the 23 wards of Tokyo metropolitan area, a few of them are situated in the neighboring Kanazawa and Chiba prefectures.
Although all the shortlisted museums had an amazing collection on display, their suitability for the treasure hunt experience design was evaluated on the basis of following consideration:
Type of collection: In order to design an appropriate riddle for any artifact, it is essential to build a thread of connected stories about the artifact. Artifacts with a unique origin and an identifiable history make iteasier to frame an appropriate and interesting riddle. For an example, astatue of bodhisattva from Tokyo National Museum would be a much
more convenient subject for framing a riddle as compared to some ceramic utensil from ancient china at Nezu Museum which, despite being
an exquisite work of craftsmanship, doesn’t have a clearly identifiable
artist or age of manufacture. This argument would become clearer in thesection on riddle design.
A number of folk craft museums surveyed in this study were found to bein appropriate for treasure hunt experience design in this regard. Exhibitions at Japanese Folk Crafts Museum, Shitamachi Museum, Fukaga-

wa-Edo Museum, and Showa Era Lifestyle Museum were an impressive
collection of items or recreations of items from old ages but they could
not be used to frame a dynamic treasure hunt experience. On the other
hand, Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum and Japan Open-air
Folk House Museum exhibited similar collections but with a significant
historical background suitable for a treasure hunt design. Exhibitions inart museums with a strong historical theme are also good opportunities
for a treasure hunt design. “Heroes from Tales of the Water Margin”
exhibition at Ota Memorial Museum of Art and “The Grand Sengai Exhibition” at Idemitsu Museum of Arts exemplify such exhibitions. Art

9

Wide array of museums in Tokyo were surveyed
during preliminary reconnaissance for a suitable
treasure hunt experience design venue.

Japan Open Air Folk House Museum

Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum

Gotoh Museum

Seikado Bunko Art Museum

Fukagawa Edo Archive

Sen-oku Museum

10

Advertising Museum Tokyo

Idemitsu Museum of Arts

Hatakeyama Memorial Museum of Fine Art

Nezu Museum

Life-of-Showa Museum

The Japan Folk Crafts Museum

Suntory Museum of Art

Ota Memorial Museum of Art

Mitsui Memorial Museum

Edo Tokyo Museum

Shitamachi Folk Museum
The University of Tokyo Museum

Yayoi Museum

Tokyo National Museum

museum exhibitions designed around themes with no associated historical background are ill suited for a treasure hunt experience design.
“Introduction to Chinese Ceramics” exhibition at Nezu Museum, “TheTraditional Performing Arts of Japan” exhibition at Mitsui Memorial

Museum, and “Seven Daring Years: Odano Naotake and Akita Ranga”
exhibition at Suntory Museum of Art were deemed inappropriate withthis reasoning.
Collection display length: Most museums that own a large collection of
artifacts adopt a rotating exhibition policy of displaying only a set items
at a time based on some predefined theme. While such an arrangement
ensures exhibition of items under some brilliant scheme, it limits thetime for which any particular set of artifacts are on display. As a result,it was not possible to carry out the process of reconnaissance, riddle
development, and event realization within such short time frame in thecase of some museums
Art museums such as Nezu Museum, Mitsui Memorial Museum, Idemit-su Museum of Arts, Suntory Museum of Art, Seikado Bunko Art Museum, and Yayoi Museum had a typical exhibition duration of merely twomonths and were therefore deemed inappropriate for designing a treasure hunt despite some of them having very appropriate collections byother considerations. Large museums such as Tokyo National Museum,
National Museum of Japanese History, and Edo-Tokyo Museum had apermanent exhibition in addition to short term special exhibitions allowing sufficient space of time for treasure hunt design. Museums suchas Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, Japan Open-air Folk
House Museum, Edo-Tokyo Museum, Fukagawa-Edo Museum, Shitamachi Museum, and Showa Era Lifestyle Museum were the most suitable in this regard as they exhibit the same collection year round.
Museum regulations: In order to solve the riddle, the participants are required not only to observe the artifact carefully but often also to searchon the internet for supporting information or other clues. Therefore, un-11restricted use of mobile phones at the museum site is an indispensable
requirement for organizing treasure hunts. Unfortunately, some museums restrict not only shooting photos at the exhibition but outrightprohibit the use of mobile phones irrelevant of the purpose citing thefragility of artifacts on display as the reason.
Museums exhibiting private collections such as Nezu Museum, Idemit-su Museum of Arts, Ota Memorial Museum of Art, Suntory Museum ofArt, Seikado Bunko Art Museum, and Yayoi Museum were particularly
restrictive in this regard making it difficult to hold a treasure hunt event.
Open air museums such as Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum
and Japan Open-air Folk House Museum on the other hand offered a
restriction free environment suitable for organizing a treasure hunting
event.
Relevance of the exhibition: Apart from the above mentioned requirements related to the ease of treasure hunt design, one additional criteria
was adopted in the context of this study. Exhibitions not related to Japanor Japanese culture were excluded. “Introduction to Chinese Ceramics”
exhibition at Nezu Museum and “Heroes from Tales of the Water Margin” exhibition at Ota Memorial Museum of Art were deemed unsuitable for this reason.

2.2 Stage II: Riddle design
Riddles form the core of a treasure hunt experience. Suitably designed
riddles are the key to an enriching and interesting treasure hunt. Riddles are posed in the form a simple clue or fact that is supposed to beconnected in some way to one of the artifacts. It is the job of the participant to explore in depth about the provided clue or the artifacts in thecollection and identify the connection in order to solve the riddles. The
task of riddle design may be considered in two stages: collecting relevant background information on the artifact, and stringing the relevant

12background stories to form the riddle.
Information collection: Most of the modern museum artifacts are furnished with a short description placed right next to the item on display.
This description forms the basis for collecting detailed background information. Museum shop’s book collection facilitated convenient reference of this primary description for most of the museums. Further,various online databases hosted by the museums or other national organizations also made available the basic description of certain artifacts.
Basic description thus acquired is surveyed for characteristic keywords
specific to the artifact and having potential to form an interesting connection. Further information on these keywords is acquired throughmore generally available sources such as web encyclopedias.

Museum description plates, Museum collection books, Museum web
databases and Web encyclopedias
were the primary sources of information used for designing the riddles.

13

RiddleDesignProcess
Select an Artifact

Select a keyword fromthe attaced description

Select the next keyword
from internet search

Repeat the process of
keyword searching

Reproduce the final keyword as clue to the artifact

Ease of access of the information sources referenced in the riddle design also makes it easy for the participant to search for relevant clues.
Description boards placed at the museum site and the web resources
readily available from any smartphone are thus the only tools needed forparticipating in the treasure hunt experience.
Stringing stories: Final task in the design of riddles is the assembly ofcollected information regarding each artifact into an appropriate threadof connected ideas starting from an apparently obscure clue and ending
in the answer that is one of the artifacts. Difficulty of the riddle is directly related to the number of connected stories in the riddle. A numberof connected stories that render the clue seem unrelated to any of theartifacts in the museum make a complicated and tough to solve riddle.
On the other hand, a rather easy to solve riddles can be designed bystringing together fewer stories. The figure on the top of the page comprehensively illustrates this riddle design process.
This process of riddle design may be illustrated though a simple example. Consider the scroll painting called “Twelve Devas” held by Kyo-to National Museum which is also designated as a National Treasure.
The painting depicts the twelve gods of esoteric Buddhism. An internet
search about the “twelve gods of Buddhism” reveals that 10 of these gods

14

represent one of the directions and the other two represent the sun andthe moon. Taking this as the keyword, an internet search for “sun andmoon in Buddhism” reveals that unification of sun and moon is one of
the seventeen important tantras in Tibetan Buddhism. Selecting this as
the storyline for the riddle, the number “seventeen” is declared as a clue
for the painting of Twelve Devas. In solving this riddle, the participants
read through a number of topics and not just the simple description of
the artifact provided by the museum.

2.3 Stage III: Event realization
Final stage in the design of treasure hunt experience is the organizationof the event at a museum site. In order to effectively achieve the goals oftreasure hunt experience design, proper organization and delivery of the
final event is crucial. Followings aspects are considered in this regard:
Selection of the riddles: Depending on the size of the museum and thenumber of suitable artifacts it houses, a number of riddles may be developed. However, owing to the restricted length of time available forthe conduction of the event at any given site, only a selected number of
riddles can be implemented at a given event. Selection of the suitable
riddles for a museum was done to maintain a balance of difficulty andvariety in target artifacts. If all the riddles are too difficult or too easy,
the participants might quickly loose interest in the hunt, thus bringing
to an end any hopes of promoting self-learning through the museum.
Uniform spread of the riddles to various categories of the museum artifacts is also necessary in order ensure sufficient coverage of all topics under the objective of promoting self-learning through the treasure hunt
experience design. Selecting too many riddles from a narrow range ofcategories would also render the riddles easier to solve.
Event formation: Selected riddles can be finally put together into a treasure hunt event at the museum site. While many different event formats

15may be possible, following recommendations are given in the context
of the current study. Clues for each riddle are expressed in the form of
pictures. Posing riddles through pictures instead of a text added a layerof difficulty to the question while also making it equally easier for participants of all linguistic background to grasp the riddle. Further, a web
based means of communication was adopted for send riddles and other information to the participants during the event. This arrangement
ensures smooth delivery of picture based riddles while requiring minimum additional tools. Finally, an arrangement of furnishing additional
hints for the original riddles was also made whereby participants could
request hints for the questions they felt to be too difficult.

16

Conclusion

3

In accordance with the design outline, a treasure hunt event was organized at one of the museum venues to examine participant response tosuch an experience design. This chapter details the event organizationand discusses the observed response and participant feedback. In conclusion, further improvements to the proposed design are discussed.

3.1 Event description
A treasure hunt event was designed for Edo-Tokyo Open-air Architecture Museum. This museum was found to be one of the most appropriate
venues in the preliminary reconnaissance stage. Year round permanent
exhibition, no restriction on photography or use of mobile phones, andthe present of a relevant collection of artifacts satisfy all the necessary
requirements for a treasure hunt event design. The museum houses restored buildings from Showa to Edo periods and gives an insight to thelife in those times. Unlike other open air museums (like Japan Open-

air Folk House Museum) exhibiting buildings from the past and folk
craft museums (like Edo-Tokyo Museum) exhibiting items or replicas
of from the past, this museum exhibits buildings that each have a significant historical background related to important people or events in
Edo and Showa periods. Hence, a treasure hunt could be easily designed
for this museum. Following thorough background study and following

the process of riddle design as expressed in the previous chapter, a set of
riddles were developed. The list of riddles employed in this event can befound in the appendix.
Volunteers were invited for participation in a test run of the thus designed treasure hunt experience. A total of 7 interested students werethus gathered as volunteers mainly from through participation calls in
University circles and foreign students’ community in The University ofTokyo. For their participation, a compensation of 1000 yen for transportand Museum entry fee was arranged. A prize of 5000 yen for treasurehunt contest was also set up in order to ensure enthusiastic participation.
The event was held over 3 hours on a Saturday morning. First 30 minutes were designed to be free time over which participants could orient themselves with the large museum premises and get an overview
of the kind of buildings on display in various parts of the museum. At
the end of the free time, all the riddles were sent out over a messaging
application and answers were accepted over the same application. Hints
were provided to the participants upon request. Finally, the participant
with most correct answers within shortest time at the end of stipulated 3
hours was declared the winner and rewarded with the prize.

3.2 Response discussion
At the end of the event all the participants were interviewed on theiropinion about the event. All the participants were on their first visit to
the museum. Participant response was generally positive and they described the event as quite interesting. They also reported that the challenge to find solution to a riddle was an immense motivation to thoroughly browse through the entire museum.
While the response of the participants about this experience was en-18

couragingly positive, they did not seem to realize the educational objectives behind this event. While searching for the solution to riddles,
the participants also gained knowledge on various topics not directly
related to the museum which would not have been possible in a regular
museum visit. Furthermore, they achieved this with the strength of theirown motivation to compete for the prize and solve the given challenge.
In this process they also learnt the art of self-learning through freely
available sources of information online.

3.3 Future recommendations
Although an event could be designed and evaluated through a test run
in this study, the findings are subject to the limitations that were encountered during reconnaissance and design phases. Taking into account these limitations, following recommendations are given for futurestudies:
1. While the volunteer response was positive, the small number of volunteers from a very narrow background severely limits the utility of theresults. More volunteers form a wide range of backgrounds would better
validate the applicability of the treasure hunt experience design.
2. A number of museums court restrictions unsuitable for a treasurehunt design experience. Negotiation with the museum authorities tocompromise these restrictions specifically for holding a treasure huntmight be considered in order to expand the scope of the study.
3. Treasure hunt design evaluated in this study is limited in scope to only
certain types of museums and artifacts. Other types of museums not targeted by this study also attract vast numbers of visitors every week. The
riddle design may be modified to suit other museums in order to design
a holistic treasure hunt experience.

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Appendix
A.1 List of riddles
All the riddles developed for the treasure hunt event at Edo-Tokyo
Open-air Architecture Museum are listed here for reference. Includedin the description of each riddle is the story line leading to the clue fromthe artifact description.
Riddle 1
Artifact Name: Jisho-in Mausoleum
Selected keyword from attached description: A mausoleum dedicated to
the wife of shogun Iemitsu Tokugawa
Next keyword: One of the most popular mausoleums in the world dedicated to a queen is Taj Mahal in India.
Provided clue: Taj Mahal
Riddle 2
Artifact Name: Kokaden Palace
Selected keyword from attached description: This building built as temporary ceremony hall for the 2600th anniversary of the founding of Ja-

pan in year 1940.
Next keyword: 1940 Summer Olympic Games were planned to be organized in Tokyo as a commemoration for the 2600th anniversary of thefounding of Japan.

Provided clue: 1940 Olympic Games
Riddle 3
Artifact Name: Kodakara Bathhouse
Selected keyword from attached description: Seven gods of good luck
are carved above the entrance of the bathhouse
Next keyword: The seven gods of good luck are Ebisu, Daikokuten,
Bishamonten, Benzaiten, Fukurokuju, Jurōjin, Hotei, Kichijōten.
Next keyword: All this deities have their origin in ancient Hinduism or
Chinese Buddhism except for Ebisu who has a Japanese ancestry.
Next keyword: Ebisu station in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo is named after Ebisu
Provided clue: Ebisu station
Riddle 4
Artifact Name: House of Koide Family
Selected keyword from attached description: The house is designed ina style that combines the European design of those days and traditional
Japanese design.
Next keyword: Of all the European style buildings in the museum, only
this building had an accessible loft.
Provided clue: An image of loft from this building.
Riddle 5
Artifact Name: Farmhouse of Tenmyo Family
Selected keyword from attached description: The building was home to
the Tenmyo family.
Next keyword: The Tenmyo family moved to Edo area from their original residence in Tochigi during Kamakura period.
Next keyword: The Tenmyo family were engaged in iron casting in
Tochigi and produced famous ironworks trademarked as Tenmyo cast-ing.
Provided clue: An iron kettle of Tenmyo casting
Riddle 621Artifact Name: House of Georg de Lalande
Selected keyword from attached description: The building was home toa George de Lalande, a famous german architect living in Japan since
early 1900s.
Next keyword: de Lalande designed many western style buildings in Japan during those times including the now famous Thomas House in
Kobe.
Provided clue: Thomas House in Kitano, Kobe.
Riddle 7
Artifact Name: House of Kunio Mayekawa
Selected keyword from attached description: This building was designed
by Kunio Maekawa, a famous architect during post-war times in Japan.
Next keyword: Kunio Maekawa worked in France under the apprenticeship of the famous French architect, Le Corbusier.
Next keyword: One of the most popular and characteristic work of Le
Corbusier is the Villa Savoye in Poissy.
Provided clue: Villa Savoye in Poissy.

Clue to Riddle 1

22

Clue to Riddle 2

Clue to Riddle 3

Clue to Riddle 4

23

Clue to Riddle 5

Clue to Riddle 6

Clue to Riddle 724