Tokyo Tower's Wax Museum is closing on 1 September,
putting an end to Japan's most impressive collection of krautrock
waxworks. The museum is shutting its doors as its contract with the
Tokyo Tower's owners is up and will not be renewed, as the 55 year
old structure is going to be refurbished.
Displays include an expansive Manuel Göttsching
exhibit, complete with a waxwork of the E2-E4 composer and
an array of memorabilia. The museum also has wonky waxworks of
Klaus Schulze, Faust and Frank Zappa, plus Da Vinci's The Last
Supper, and Japanese astronauts.
The bias is a result of the museum's krautrock crazy
owner, Gen Fujita, the millionnaire son of Den Fujita (Japan's Alan
Sugar equivalent, who brought McDonald's to the country). The
displays are largely made up of his personal collections, although
it's not known what will happen to the homeless waxworks once the
museum has closed.
Alan Cummings was kind enough to translate some
Twitter reactions for us: "What a blow! Where now for the waxworks
of Zappa, Keith Emerson, Manuel Göttsching, Ian Anderson and the
two guys from Faust?" with one user commenting: "It was a chaotic
establishment, with waxworks of Ash Ra Tempel and prog rockers next
to scenes of Edo period torture. I'll miss it."
But all is not lost for the experimental music fan
and waxwork tourist, as
Ryuichi Sakamoto has been granted a place next to Madonna and
Michael Jackson in the recently opened Tokyo branch of Madame
Tussauds.
An official announcement on the closing of Tokyo
Tower Wax Museum is in Japanese here.
(Thanks to Keiko Yoshida)
