Miraikan, Tokyo's futuristic science museum

There are many museums to explore in Tokyo. The Ueno Park area is home to many art galleries and history museums for example. But perhaps one of the more popular and famous attractions is the Miraikan (未来館) science museum in Odaiba. Officially named the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (日本科学未来館), the name Miraikan translates literally as ‘future museum’ and it’s easy to see why. There are exhibits on model maglev trains, robotics, space exploration, natural disasters and much more.

What is there to see at the Miraikan museum?

The museum is split into several levels and sections, with each dedicated to a specific scientific interest. The ground floor is home to special priced exhibitions, while the upper levels contain more pemanent exhibits. In the main gallery off the entrance hall, you will find a giant 3D globe display, showing realtime, live satellite data of Earth’s weather and climate patterns. The globe is made up of 10,000 OLED panels, and will alternate between different data points from ocean currents and average temperatures, to population density. This exhibit is part of the ‘Discover your Earth’ section, with nearby interactive displays providing additional information.

On the third floor, you will find the ‘Create your Future’ section, home to many robots and interactive displays. Perhaps one of the best highlights of the robotics section is the hourly shows performed by Asimo, the Honda robot. Asimo will give a demonstration, talking to the audience as he walks, runs, dances and kicks a football. There’s also a fluffy stress-robot in the shape of a cute seal, that wiggles and wriggles on human contact. There are other, more sophisticated human-like androids in this section, which is directed by famed scientist Hiroshi Ishiguro.

On the fifth floor is the third permanent exhibition, known as ‘Explore the Frontiers’. This area focuses on space travel, natural disasters and geology, and biology. The Mission Survival segment explores many of the potential disasters that may endanger humanity. It has a rather harrowing section on nuclear disasters – a subject that Japan has a particular history with. When it comes to space, there’s a model replica of an ISS capsule, a copy of the LE-7A engine, as well as models of potential HABs for deep space exploration. Finally, the biology section focuses on cell research and promotion of future medicines.

Museum of the future…

The Miraikan is well worth visiting when you come to Tokyo. In fact, visiting the Odaiba area is worth a day trip in itself. You can tick off some other must-see items at the same time, such as the the giant gundam robot, the Palette Town and waterfront areas, and riding on the automated Yurikamome train (新交通ゆりかもめ) over the Rainbow Bridge. Odaiba’s a pretty magical place when you think about it.