By Jonathan Day
TOKYO, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- There was a hive of activity inside the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, known locally as Miraikan and located in Tokyo's Daiba district.
It was just before 2 p.m. (0500 GMT) and Japan's beloved humanoid robot, ASIMO, was about to make its second appearance of the day.
Scores of Japanese children in elementary school, easily distinguished by their bright yellow caps, dashed to the ASIMO display area and jostled with each other to get the best view.
Shouts of "kawaii" (cute), "kakkoii" (cool) and "sugee" (a youthful way to express amazement or being really impressed) rang-out around the third floor of Miraikan, as they enjoyed the agile performance of the world's most famous humanoid robot.
SCIENCE CAN HEAL THE WORLD
"We bring the children from grades five and six here twice a year, as they learn so much from the hands-on displays, and presentations and guides and the planetarium here is wonderful," said Miyuki Yamagishi, a grade six teacher from Kumagaya Nishi Elementary School in Tokyo's neighboring Saitama prefecture.
"What we're trying to do in school is to teach the children that this is their world, their universe, it belongs to them and they should be proud and take care of it as individuals, as a group, as a society and as a nation of global citizens," she said.
"Miraikan is set up perfectly for this, so these biannual trips really support what we teach in the classroom about the earth, the environment and the importance of ecology," she added.
Megumi Kano, one of Yamagishi's students agreed: "Today, I learnt that science is really important for our futures and scientists can make new inventions that can help our universe."
"I really enjoyed controlling the robots and now I realize they could be really important in the future doing jobs that humans can't do. The planetarium was really amazing, the universe is really a big place, I'd love to go to space one day like Mohri-san," she beamed, referring to Doctor Mamoru Mohri, executive director of Miraikan and the first Japanese in space.
"ASIMO was really cool," pitches in Shota Ozeki, a grade five student from Kumagaya Nishi Elementary School.
"If ASIMO lived in my house, he could clean my room, do my homework and we could play soccer together, although he's a little slower than I am -- actually he could be a goalkeeper, that would be so funny!" he jested.
Mohri captured the imagination of an entire nation with his space mission in 1992 and again in 2000.
He spent 19 days in space looking down on the earth from on high, which had a profound effect on him as he remembered.
"I knew there were more than six billion people living on the globe, and not only people but other species, too," he said.
"Humans have started to change the environment very rapidly and this sudden change, in such a long history, came from the development of science and technology -- controlling energy and using high-technology," he added.
"Then I returned to the earth," he continued. "Everyday I heard news about war, regional problems and natural disasters like earthquakes and once again I remembered how fragile the earth is. However, people should realize now that science and technology can help sustain it."
One facet immediately noticed by the children visiting the museum was the 6.5-meter diameter globe which seemingly floated in space between the first and the sixth floors of the building. It is an elliptical fusion of glass and metal designed to symbolize that "space is open to all."
One million light emitting diodes (LEDs) on the sphere displayed data received from orbiting satellites. This globe, a real eye-catcher for the kids, was created at Mohri's request to share with others the "bright image of the earth as seen from space."
As a father of three, Mohri said he wished to inspire a whole new generation of people who were interested in science. He strongly believed the evolution of science in the future was dependent on the education department's ability to fuse fundamental scientific principles with new, emerging technologies.
"Kids are always interested in something new, however at school they have to teach principles -- the fundamentals of science -- and sometimes kids feel such a traditional type of science is boring. While I don't deny the importance of teaching fundamentals, if we can show them something real that interests them, like a Play station or some amusing aspect of scientific technology, then we can support the fundamentals in an interesting way," he said.
"My childhood dream came true 30 years after I watched Yuri Gagarin's first trip into space on the TV and I was very much inspired by this new piece of emerging technology. We have a lot of new, high-tech products around us nowadays and young people can easily choose, access and realize their dreams," he said.
Miraikan is a globally recognized institution designed specifically to inspire people, particularly the younger generations, to dream, while teaching them about the earth's fragility and their duty to be environmentally responsible and spread the message to others.
Special report: Global News Day for Children
