It's not unusual to see children ignore a birthday toy in favor of playing with the box that the present came in. Therefore the people behind Cardboard Festival may have hit on a great idea for a family outing.
This pre-Golden Week event aimed at kids focuses on the premise that their imaginations will run wild when given vast amounts of cardboard.
The Cardboard Festival is being held at the Southern Mall Rokko B612 in Kobe's Nada Ward. A "Cardboard Kingdom" will be prepared for kids and there will be plenty of workshops on how to craft things like a suit of armor and swords. The cost to take part in the workshop is ¥500, which is equivalent to one gold coin — the currency of Cardboard Kingdom. Gold coins will be provided to customers at a select group of stores within the mall when they make purchases.
The event includes a game corner and a photo booth in which kids will be able to transform themselves into koinobori (flying carps), which are traditional decorations that dot Japan's landscape from the end of April until Children's Day on May 5.
On top of all this, the backstory of the event consists of the king of Cardboard Kingdom falling ill. The only way to help him get better is to have fun. He will present an award to those who manage to collect stamps at all three activities in the event: workshop, cardboard game area and photo booth.
Cardboard Festival take places at Southern Mall Rokko B612 in Nada-ku, Kobe, on April 26 and 27 (from 11 a.m. till 4:30 p.m.). Admission is free, but visitors will be charged for some of the attractions. For more information, call 078-841-4146 or visit www.southern-mall.com (in Japanese).
