Miraikan

Miraikan is Japan’s National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation which is housed in a gorgeous building in the Odaiba district of Tokyo. Mirai is a Japanese word means future, Miraikan is well known as “Museum of the Future”. It is created by Japan’s Science and Technology Agency and led by Japanese astronaut Dr. Mamoru Mohri.

This museum is well worth a visit for anyone. Although it is not the biggest museum, unlike other science museums that providing history of science, it exhibits technology currently being developed.

The exhibits are very hands on which not only show and tell but you could interact with just about everything. You could touch a robotic seal to see if it makes cute noises, investigate recent earthquake activity and play some fun future technology games.

You could choose whether to go for the main galleries or the special exhibition as well from ticket machines. The special exhibitions change every 3 months and mainly focus on the elements of the future science. The main galleries are divided into 4 key areas.
  • Information Science and Technology for Society (computers, Internet and etc.) 
  • Life Science (genomes, medicine and etc.) 
  • The Earth Environment and Frontiers (deep sea, outer space and etc.) 
  • Innovation and the Future (robotics and etc.) 
You could find highly knowledgeable staff in each area to explain all of the displays and to help with the interactive exhibits. Everything in this museum is explained in Japanese and English.

One of the most outstanding items is Geo-cosmos globe. It displays near real time of global weather patterns, ocean temperatures and vegetation cover.



Another favorite is the live performance by Honda’s famous ASIMO robot.  Asimo is being trained and hope that he is able to give guided tours of the museum in future.



Another highlight is space exploration. There is a full size model of a section of the International Space Station. You could walk through the station to gain an insight into life in space. Besides that, there is Dome Theater GAIA that you should explore. Reservations are required for the seats. It is recommended that you go straight to 6th floor once you arrive to pick up a ticket as the seats are very quickly filled up.

You could get to Miraikan by
  • 5 minute walk from Telecom Center Station on Yurikamome Line 
  • 15 minute walk from Tokyo Teleport Station on Rinkai Line
Business Hours:
10.00am-5.00pm
It is closed on every Tuesday and from December 28 to January 1.

Admission Fees:
Adult - 500 yen
18 years old and below - 200 yen (free entry on Saturday)