This was my first time visiting the Showa Era Lifestyle Museum. It was really wonderful to be able to see aspects of a generation from the perspective of those from another country and culture. Though a bit before my time, I have a lot of fond memories of spending time with my grandparents and seeing many things similar to those in the museum. One that I found particularly nostalgic was this ice cream maker. It’s similar to the one that my grandmother had. We would spend many afternoons in the summer making ice cream. I remember the first time we tried, it ended up very salty because we didn’t make it properly. But after that, we always knew how to make lovely homemade ice cream!

On the left the Japanese coffee cups and on the right the German coffee cup with the visible flower design through the weak coffee.

The moment I saw the beautifully ornate coffee cups, I stepped on my toes to see the bottom of the cups. To my surprise there was no adornment inside the cup, just outside. In Germany, the traditional coffee cups usually have a flower at the bottom of the cup. This is also how a humorous description of weak coffee has derived “Blümchenkaffee” (花ちゃんコーヒー). It is used when the coffee is so weak, that you can see the flower design through it.

Nowadays these cups are not that common anymore, or are used for more special occasions. Seeing these kinds of cups reminds me of being at my grandparents house over coffee and cake with the whole family.

For innovation I clearly suggest to include nostalgia to trigger emotions. People love to talk about nostalgic moments and have many stories about this to share. In an international context, this is also a wonderful opportunity to compare different cultures and see the similarities.

My memory about the Mexican woven baskets

When I saw these woven baskets, it reminded me of the Mexican artisans that make these baskets in the markets in Mexico. I used to see how they made it when my mother and I visit the markets during weekends. Saw this artesian is still pretty common in my country, now I wonder if I can see Japanese artisans making these beautiful woven baskets.

My memory about the “ Talavera” Mexican pottery

When I was visiting the museum I saw these beautiful cups and reminds me of Mexican pottery called “Talavera”, which can be seen not only in cups but also in floor decorations or pots for plants. I was surprised to see that they used these cups in their daily routine. In my house, the pottery is used only on special occasions like Christmas or New Year dinner. Actually, I remember that one of my favorite moments of these holidays was to finally my family and I could share some tea using the Talavera cups!

Seeing the Family Computer console in the display case instantly reminded me of weekends away at my grandparents’ beach house with my family. After spending most of the day in the sun and surf, my sister and I would go inside and spend time playing games against each other or arguing over who gets to play the single player games first. Often my parents would join in the fun and play with us. Quite often our Family Computer console would stop working, and the only way to make it start again was to blow into the game cartridge and hope for the best.

When I came to Japan I found the rice cookers to be very modern and slick, at this museum I saw what you would consider old-style rice cookers. And guess what, it was the same one we still use in Costa Rica. These type of rice cookers are still sold in my country, so I found it very fun.　In my country we start the rice cooker with some oil, garlic and onion; you fry the rice and then cook it normally. Making rice on this machine was one of the first things my mother taught me how to make at home, and I definitely burned the rice more than once.