I would like to end by describing one scene that lends this welcome beginning both hope and courage concerning the future of museums in Nepal. This scene occurred on December 28, 1999 at 4:50 in the afternoon. Having met with the director of the Hanuman Dokha Museum, Mr. Kobayashi and I went outside and were met with the sight of about 200 blue-shirted and sandal-wearing students making a U-turn in single file. Upon asking the teacher that was leading them, we were told that "since it is already closing time for the Hanuman Dokha Museum and we are unable to enter we are going to see the National Museum of Nepal, Chauni. If that is also closed, then we will head to the Balaju Water Garden." Following along behind the line, we saw two beat-up buses stopped about two kilometers ahead, across the Vishnumati River. The group turned out to be students who had come on a field trip from the Kabhre-palanchok District that is one or two hours away by bus from Kathmandu. These were children in the fifth through seventh years of school. I was told that they had begun in the morning and had visited Bhaktapur's three museums (a comprehensive ticket costs 2 rupees per person), the city of Patan, the zoo, and the National Assembly building, and then had come to the Hanuman Dokha Museum after being unable to visit the Radio Nepal broadcasting station. Incidentally, they hadn't seen the Patan Museum because of the high price of admission.

From this incident, we can see that museums with inexpensive admission fees are utilized as part of Nepal's school curriculum, that parking lots are not an absolute requirement for museums, and that teachers are not sufficiently informed about their school trip destinations. Mr. Kobayashi and I believe that the Nepal National Ethnographic Museum is a place for Nepal's children to experience their country's cultural diversity. Fortunately, the location of the Nepal National Ethnographic Museum is in a place that is very convenient for both Nepalese and foreigners. What remains to be resolved is the efficient provision of information to teachers in local schools. Or rather, before that, what is probably first needed is a shift in thinking to include Nepalese when considering the visitors to the Tourist Service Center. The renovated Patan Museum has raised their admission fee and restricted their target to foreign tourists. The National Museum of Nepal, Chauni is, despite its low admission fee, an extremely run-down museum. I hope that the Nepal National Ethnographic Museum will make the most of its advantageous location in a building of hotel-like splendor and become a place where children - while feeling somewhat nervous in such an atmosphere - may join foreigners in reappraising the culture of their country.

Finally, there is one more piece of news worth celebrating. As it happens, in 2002 Dr. Gurung was appointed one of the six members of the Public Service Commission that is established by Nepal's constitution. This post is filled by nomination from among those who possess a post-graduate degree and are highly regarded in research and education in science, the fine arts, literature and law, and it is a special post that for six years does not even permit concurrent work as a university professor. I have written that as a joke I once said to Dr. Gurung "Isn't your becoming a Minister or something the fastest way to open a museum?" I then introduced him by saying that Dr. Gurung's inestimable talent meant that this not entirely a joke (Minami 2000). It seems my prediction was not far off. I'm sure his new post will keep him busy, but in the future, I hope that he will continue to exert himself towards the goals of the museum's opening and its further progress.

Brief History