An hour into this enchanting exhibition, I could have done with a neck massage. Not that I’m complaining. The endlessly engaging vitrines, the cuddly robot seals, the kimonos, the rice-makers, the globes, the monitors screening clips from classic Studio Ghibli films, the vintage Game Boys, not to mention the Hiroshige woodblock prints – they are all marvellous, but they are all positioned at toddler height, meaning grownups have to stoop to conquer their ignorance about the ancient roots of modern Japanese culture. I’m writing this with aching joints after kneeling before a glass case containing an exquisite netsuke moon rabbit that incarnates a Japanese legend. I should have brought kneepads.
Japan: Myths to Manga aims to teach the Young V&A’s core demographic of 0-14-year-olds (as well as their vertically challenged guardians) that a lot of the popular culture they love – movies, manga, anime, video games, tamagotchi – is drawn from rich folklore and myth. The name of the video game Okami, for example, means white wolf, which is the form the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu was apt to take. Meanwhile Sailor Moon, the Japanese schoolgirl-turned-superhero and the most successful manga franchise of all time, puns with the words for moon and rabbit, linking this modern icon to the legendary bunny who, even now, is grinding rice on the moon.
