Coin Lockers You Should Use When Visiting an Exhibition

What I take for granted is not necessarily what others take for granted.

An incident that made me realize this extremely obvious fact once again is what inspired me to write this note.

One weekend.
I went to see an exhibition with a friend who said, "I've been so busy with work that it's been a really long time since I've been to an art museum! I've been looking forward to going with you!!!"

Since both my friend and I were wearing backpacks that day, right after we entered the museum,

Me: "Alright, let's leave our bags in a locker for now."
Friend:"Oh, really? Leave them?"

...Hmm?

I almost always use coin lockers if they are available so I can view exhibits hands-free.
My friend's reaction was unexpected.

When we walked together to the area where the coin lockers were lined up,

Friend:"Oh, I see, so these lockers are free!"

At this point, I was struck by a realization.

Wait? Is the fact that coin lockers at art museums are free... perhaps not very well known?

...................................

Actually, there was something I had been wondering about for a while inside exhibition rooms.

People walking around with fairly heavy-looking bags still on their shoulders.
People with decent-sized backpacks still on their backs.
People holding bulky down jackets in their hands during the cold season.

Well, it's up to each individual, so that's fine. It's fine, but they just look like they're having a hard time.

I'm sure the staff definitely guides people to the coin lockers. I had assumed that even so, they must have their own reasons for not using them.

But when I had that realization, I thought about it.
It wasn't that there were no empty coin lockers, or that they hadn't noticed there were coin lockers in the first place,

but perhaps the fact that art museums and museums have coin lockers—and that they are free—wasn't being properly communicated as a set.

In the world, when people think of coin lockers, they are mainly things found at train stations, and it is natural to assume they arepaid.

And, knowing what kind of places art museums and museums are, going there often, and knowing that they arefreebecause you use coin lockers often—that is, if anything, a very small minority in society. I tend to forget that myself, too.

This might be called one of those common communication losses, atypical case of thinking you've communicated something when it hasn't been properly conveyed.

...................................

So, here is an important reminder once again.

When viewing exhibitions at art museums or museums, you can store your bags and outerwear in the facility's coin lockers.

Lockers cost 100 yen regardless of size, and the money is returned when you take your belongings out.

Most art museums and museums have coin lockers where you can store your bags.

In smaller facilities, the number of lockers is limited, but unless it is a large-scale facility like a national or prefectural art museum or museum, or a moment of extreme congestion like on a weekend or at the end of a special exhibition, you should generally be able to use them.

By the way, the art museums and museums in Tokyo I have visited that did not have coin lockers were the Yayoi Museum and Takehisa Yumeji Museum in Nezu, and 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT located on the grounds of Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi. Also, I don't think the Okamoto Taro Memorial Museum in Aoyama had them either. They are truly few and far between.

As an aside, galleries basically do not have lockers. However, you are often encouraged to use a desk or sofa by being told, "Please feel free to leave your bags here if you'd like."

...................................

At coin lockers in places like train stations, the usage fee increases as the size gets larger, right?
But at art museum and museum coin lockers, they are all 100 yen regardless of size. Please rest assured.

Coin lockers are usually available in about two or three sizes.
Facilities that have many visitors from overseas, in particular, have larger sizes installed that can easily accommodate carry-on sized suitcases or large hiking backpacks.

That said, due to space constraints, the number of large lockers that can be installed is limited, so the ones that are most numerous are the size for handbags.
Please be considerate when using large lockers and choose a locker that fits the size of your own belongings.

I also sometimes use two lockers when a large one isn't available but my outerwear is too bulky to fit in one, by separating my outerwear and my bag.

...................................

And, when you open the key to take your belongings out on your way home, 100 yen will clink out from the return slot.
Please be careful, as people often forget to take this back.
Even if it's just 100 yen, it's still nice to have it returned to you, isn't it?


Among these, what I occasionally encounter are lockers that can be locked without needing 100 yen.

For example, I also encounter the no-100-yen-needed pattern at facilities that have been renovated relatively recently, such as the Artizon Museum in Kyobashi, the Bunkamura Museum in Shibuya, and the SOMPO Museum of Art in Shinjuku.

Certainly, users save the trouble of taking out 100 yen, and the facility also saves the trouble of checking for forgotten items at closing time, the trouble of disinfecting them nowadays, and the trouble of handling change.


...You might wonder why they didn't do this from the beginning.

I imagine that perhaps until recently, the ready-made lockers with the designs that art museums and museums wanted to use were only made as coin-operated types.
They are a bit different from the lockers with keys used in offices and the like.

If anything, they are the type found in super sento or gyms. As these facilities have increased, perhaps manufacturers that offer ready-made or custom-compatible options have emerged.

...................................

Huh? What should I do in a case like this?

◆ Huh? I don't have a 100-yen coin in my wallet!
You don't need to rush to buy a drink from a vending machine or run to buy a postcard at the museum shop.
If you ask at the information desk or similar, they can give you change.

◆ Huh? What about luggage that won't even fit in the largest locker?
If you ask at the information desk or similar, they can hold it for you temporarily.

...................................

To begin with, why are you allowed to store your luggage in coin lockers for free?

First, it is to improve convenience for visitors.
This is easy to understand, right? It's obviously much easier to be empty-handed.

Another reason is to keep the exhibited works and the environment safe.

For example... please imagine this situation for a moment.

You get so absorbed in viewing that you step closer, and the heavy bag on your shoulder swings around to the front of your body like a pendulum, accidentally hitting a 300-year-old painting on display—oh no!

Or, you take a step back and your large backpack hits an elderly person, and as they stumble, they fall toward a large 150-year-old glass piece! Watch out!

Or, you were dragging your down jacket on the floor without realizing it, tripped over it, and crashed into a display stand, causing a 1000-year-old ceramic piece to fall—oh no, the whole display stand is tipping over... and so on.

...It makes you break out in a cold sweat, doesn't it?
The point is to prevent such disasters.
So, please feel free to use the coin lockers and enjoy the exhibition in a relaxed and comfortable way, as empty-handed as possible✨

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By the way... let me introduce one of my essentials for visiting exhibition rooms.

Since I always use coin lockers at art museums and museums,I have a wallet specifically for visiting exhibitions, and I always keep a 100-yen coin inside it.

And,if I put the key from the locker in that wallet, it prevents me from losing it.

Furthermore,when I finish viewing the exhibition and go to retrieve my luggage, I open the wallet to get the key, so I immediately put the returned 100-yen coin back into the wallet.
I think it's a very rational system myself✨

For your reference, as for what's inside my wallet...

• A simple pencil for taking notes inside the exhibition room

• Minimum amount of cash and a credit card

• Two spare batteries for my digital camera, in case the facility allows photography

• Student ID

Like that, the Hobonichi Hikidashi Pouch holds much more than it looks like it would. I highly recommend it✨

There are various designs available. Here is the Dora-chan series.
I also like the red pom-pom on the tail and the fact that the inside is bright blue.

However, lately I've started thinking it might be reassuring and nice to be able to put my smartphone and paper ticket stubs in there too, so I'm slightly tempted to buy an additional "small drawer pouch" that's like a long wallet. Hmm, hmm...

Summary

When you go to art museums and museums almost every week, you completely forget about it before you know it... the time when you were totally bewildered because you didn't know what was where or how things worked at an art museum or museum.

I thought there might still be more things like this current the issue of coin lockers actually being free, so I will write about them again when I notice them.

And it's not just limited to art museums and museums; I suppose it's common to have things you thought you communicated but didn't actually get across.

Never forget your beginner's spirit. And, never forget your imagination for others, either.