Kyoto - Nano Paper Model

Second in the set - beauty in miniature

Inari Shrine - Nano Paper Model

The factors that come into play when planning for a trip can range from the practical (must stop for food/gas at place X) to those that are attached to a story thread.

The only reason we flew into Munich was because it was the closest airport to Neuschwanstein Castle.  The castle is a major tourist attraction for sure, but we would have avoided it had it not been for the models that Will had built in the past.

After Lego started to get dull, we bought Will a number of nanoblock model sets.  Nanoblock is a line of construction toys manufactured by Kawada Co. Ltd, a toy company based in Tokyo, Japan. The bricks in these sets are extremely small (you need tweezers to put them together). His favourites sets were/are the world landmark models and for his birthday two years ago we bought him the Neuschwanstein Castle kit. This baby consisted of 5600 pieces and it took him months to complete it. So, when we were asking the boys about what they wanted to see in Europe, the castle was near the top of Will's list.

When I was in Japan in May, I came across the nano paper kits also made by Kawada and picked up a number of them for the boys try out.  Will's first attempt was of an Inari Shrine.  All that is in the kit is laser cut paper and detailed instructions.  Two solid hours were needed to put this together.

The end result is pretty cool.

The box

The finished model

Will and Ludwig II

Octopus Balls

No joke, this is what the Japanese translates to on this package - Octopus Balls.

Before I went to Nagoya, the boys gave explicit instructions about what they wanted me to bring back.  Kracie food kits were at the top of the list (see our first blog post).  Go to YouTube and enter kracie into the search function and you will see how cool these kits are.

So here we go.  Iron Chef William has googled English instructions for this kit and is underway.

Frankly, this is like an edible playdough kit with an Easybake oven overtone.

 

Melanie just passed by with a concerned expression on her face.

Octopus parts have been formed. Dough is being made.

 

Final product is surprisingly good.  Mellow seafood flavour with a curry sauce.  Japan, you crazy.