Tokyo Days 17 - Miraikan

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, also known as Miraikan, was the next destination on my list. For the sake of simplicity, we are just going to refer to the museum as Miraikan. Located in the bay side area of Odaiba, Miraikan is a short walk of the Telecom Center station on the Yurikamome line. Open almost every day of the week except Tuesdays, from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. the Miraikan is a worth visit for both children and adults alike. Admission fees are cheap too at 620 Yen for adults and 210 Yen for individuals 18 years and below.

One of the centerpieces of Miraikan is the replica Earth recreated from various screens arranged to form a sphere.

Surrounding it is the suspended "Oval Bridge" that visitors can use to traverse between floors.

Being a museum of emerging sciences, there is even an accompanying bilingual app to make your trip more worthwhile.

Like almost every other building in Odaiba, there is no skimping on space here with a judicious use of tall ceiling and wide walkways. It is quite a sight to behold especially for a building located in Tokyo.

Previous Nobel Prize winners who have visited were given the chance to write messages and questions for the visitors to read. You can even spot Barack Obama's!

Another star attraction of the museum are hourly demonstrations by Honda's Asimo robot.

Just like every other exhibit in Miraikan, Asimo's demonstration is also bilingual.

Except for when Asimo starts to sing in which it totally sounds like a Vocaloid.

The newest iteration of Asimo has evolved into a fairly agile robot, it just makes you wonder what the future holds for this type of development.

The whole demonstrations lasts about 10 minutes but, it definitely gathers a huge crowd.

On the topic of robots, androids too are on display. But, this one is a little too creepy even by my standards.

A recreation of an ISS module is even available on the 5th floor. On the side panels are the signatures of all the astronatuss who have visited Miraikan in the past.

Buzz Aldrin!

There is even a replica rocket engine on display.

On top of that, it is very well detailed and labeled.

A deep-sea exploration vehicle, I have always wondered what it would be like to embark in an adventure on one of these machines.

When you are tired, there is also a cafe located on the 5th floor to recharge your batteries. Everything is pretty decently priced too. On top of that, there is also another cafeteria on the 7th floor too.

Besides the cafeteria, the 7th floor also houses an observatory where you can get a really good view of Odaiba and its attractions.

Even the 1/1 RX-78-2 Gundam can be seen from afar although, the trees do obstruct the view somewhat. Other worthy attractions within include a domed theater on the 6th floor where periodic shows are shown, there is a separate charge for this and a souvenir shop on the 1st floor. While I visited the souvenir shop, I avoided taking any photos there because of the amount of people present.

After spending a good hour and a half in Miraikan, I was done and decided to visit the rest of Odaiba for a bit before returning home. On my way, I even spotted this itasha-ed BMW 1 Series sporting a Takao livery. Clearly someone must be a fan of the series. On a side note, it is worth mentioning that the BMW showroom in Odaiba surely is something else! Not too long after, the weather started looking a little gloom and I decided to head back before it started pouring. With that, my rather uneventful day had come to an end as I prepared for the week to come.

With that, thanks so much again for reading and as always have yourself a wonderful day ahead!