Madame Tussauds is a world famous wax museum that houses wax sculptures of celebrities and prominent figures from around the world. Originally first opened in London, now there are museums across Europe, Asia, Australia and America. I had a chance to visit the Madame Tussauds Tokyo museum.
This place has been on my list to visit ever since it opened in Tokyo 2013. I had just moved from Hokkaido to Chiba and was new to the Kanto area. And many people suggested a wonderful place for families, couples and tourists called Odaiba. Odaiba is a beautiful area which has so many amazing things to see and do including a Statue of Liberty replica, rainbow bridge, a colorful Ferris wheel, various museums and art galleries and even a car show. There are various indoor amusement parks like Joypolis and Legoland as well as an Edo period themed hot spring public bath and giant Gundam Robot.
Along with all these attractions, shopping malls and museums, is Madame Tussauds Wax Museum located in the Decks Building. It was a rainy day and I finally had a chance to visit the museum with my friend Brian.
Not only does this museum house sculptures of popular world leaders and Hollywood celebrities, but it also has a variety of Japanese athletes, pop stars, actors and celebs. These Japanese celebrities are exclusively at the Tokyo branch and give visitors who have visited other Madam Tussaud locations a glimpse of Japanese entertainment.
Although the museum is not that big, it took me around two hours to see the whole thing. What made this experience amazing was not only the chance to see the sculptures up close but the level of interactivity. Almost every celebrity had an interesting backdrop, special costumes that you could wear to pose with the sculpture and even interactive exhibits.
My favorites were standing next to the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe and giving a speech that was broadcast on a television above and live microphone.
I also had a chance to walk the catwalk and strut my stuff in fashionable fur while being photographed.
There was even a 3D face scanner that allowed my face to be placed on dancing celebrities. Watch my video on YouTube of the tour to see all the ways I interacted with the sculptures.
For those of you who have never heard of Madame Tussaud or her museum, here is a little history lesson.
Madame Tussaud or Marie Grosholtz was born in 1761 in France to a father who was a doctor skilled in wax modelling. Through him, she learned and started creating sculptures of prominent figures of her time.
She was imprisoned during the French Revolution and barely avoided execution. After her father’s death, she inherited his sculptures and started a travelling show around Europe. After marriage she took her husband’s name and Marie Tussaud or Madame Tussaud started showcasing her sculptures in different shows until she got her first official museum in London.
Since then, there have been 24 museums opened around the world including in Amsterdam, Las Vegas, New York, Hong Kong, Berlin, Bangkok, Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo and Turkey.
The price to enter was quite expensive at 2300 Yen (about $23) but I was able to find discount tickets at Voyagin for 50% off so I only paid 1150 (about $12). There are a variety of sites including the official Tokyo homepage that have discount tickets available so definitely check them out before you go.
If you are in Odaiba, Tokyo and would like to do something fun and entertaining indoors to kill a couple of hours, I highly recommend Madame Tussauds Tokyo!
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