I will have to say that Korea has borrowed a lot from the Japanese despite the Koreans' hatred towards the Japanese because of what happened during World War 2. Of the Japanese war crimes, perhaps the most famous is the Rape of Nanking and in the Philippines, well known among history aficionados is the Rape of Manila. This borrowing, I suppose, is not out of admiration but due to desire for revenge. At present, Korean telenovelas have replaced J-dramas, K-POP pushed J-POP to the sidelines, and Korean makeup is gaining raves even from Westerners. In short, it is a popular cultural battle, out to defeat Japan.
One of these borrowings is the preference for all things cute and cuddly especially among teenagers. Our group has more young once than young ones but that didn't deter the guide from taking us to Teddy Bear Museum. Upon entering your eyebrows will automatically raise all by itself. All these stuffed toys???
Oh but go upstairs and be mesmerized by the artistry and attention to details. Teddy bears are of course given central focus in this museum and popular scenes from many a fairy tale are reenacted--- but all characters are teddy bears.
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| Gulliver's Travels |
A pleasant surprise is finding a Vitruvian bear, patterned after Da Vinci's Vitruvian man. Now things are definitely getting more witty.
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| Vitruvian Man |
And in one gallery is where Greek gods and goddesses, all in their teddy bear forms, are found. After this, I left the museum with a smile on my face.
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| Greek goddess of hunt, Artemis |
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