Our only daughter graduated college and left the house about a year ago to work at a job in downtown Tokyo. She lives in Koto Ward, which is one of 23 wards, or boroughs, that make up the central part of the city. Fortunately, her apartment is only about 30 minutes away from the trendy district of Odaiba, which, in addition to having several of the largest and most modern shopping malls, is host to Toyota’s Megaweb; a combination museum, showroom, and amusement park – a must stop for any Japan Domestic Model (JDM) fan visiting the country.
Megaweb is divided up into three separate facilities. The most recent addition is the History Garage, modeled after a small street in downtown Tokyo, circa 1960s.
You’re greeted by this cheeky Mazda Carol as you enter – CC reviewed the Carol previously here.
After the Carol are a couple of European tourists – an Alfa Spyder and a BMW-Isetta.
Opposite is a Subaru 360 – similar to the one Paul drove.
The museum also features lots of memorabilia from the ’50s-’60s.
The American contingent is represented by, what else, a ’59 Caddy and a ’63 Vette…
The star, as least in my view, is this white Toyota 2000 – hard to believe that when I first arrived in Japan in 1981, I had the opportunity to purchase a 2000 – a co-worker who had a used car business on the side found one, and was selling it for the then significant price of $20,000. Oh, those decisions you regret…
This very nice early Porsche 356 rounded out the street scene.
In a separate room are some beautifully preserved models; a Corona, an early Nissan Bluebird, and a Gen 1 Crown.
Exit the Garage and going through the shopping mall brings you to building #2, the Toyota City Showcase – you’re greeted by this all-original, pristine 1951 Toyopet SA – one of Toyota’s first post-war models.
Think of the Showcase as a large, two-story dealership, except there are no salespersons hovering over you, and every JDM car Toyota offers is available to peruse; climb in, pop the hood, kick the tires, etc.
Having owned several Toyota Crowns, I had to sit in this Royal Saloon – very nice.
Here’s a Camry that’s been modified by the Toyota Racing Development (TRD) folks. You can get this package as an option on your Camry here.
Lots of cutaway models also – this one the fuel cell Mirai. No matter how you feel about this technology, seeing the engineering that went into it is fascinating.
There’s a section for concept cars also – currently on display is the Toyota FT 1 – I’m not a fan of current Toyota styling, but this looks pretty sharp. No info on the engine, but the two exhaust outlets in the rear were coffee can-size. This may be the upcoming Supra.
After poking through the models on the floor, you can present your driver’s license (Japanese or International) and take a spin in the car of your choice on a 1.3 km closed track – I passed when they said no V-12 Centuries were available that day.
A quick jaunt past the 113-meter tall Observation Wheel is building #3; Joy Ride – here are several areas that allow children and teens to drive a variety of electrical vehicles on a controlled track.
A great way to spend a Sunday – Honda has a similar, though smaller showcase in a different area of Tokyo – it’s on the calendar for a future visit.
A Disneyland for car enthusiasts. I haven’t heard of any equivalent elsewhere.
Was there anything about Hamo? That looks like some sort of intermodal shared-transportation scheme, from what I could tell in the hype at Toyota’s corporate site.
Most museums don’t let you touch anything, let alone get in, climb around, pop the hood etc. Truly a rarity. That very first pic of a Toyopet is kinda cute.
At the Corvette museum here in Kentucky, (Bowling Green). I do believe if you cross the barriers, if any are in place, Some large Gentlemen will come out of nowhere and “gently” take you aside and inform you that you have “nice looking knee caps there, be too bad if something should happen to them” Now in Elizabethtown Ky. There is a car museum called Cars Of Yesteryear at a very large car dealership called Swope and it’s free! Don’t know about getting in and sitting down, never tried it. But you can touch and get up close and admire. Recommend it if you are ever in the Ft Knox area.
I think you would get in trouble if you did that in the museum section, but where he said you can do that is more of an autoshow/showroom with models that are currently available for sale.
At Cars of Yesteryear, They aren’t for sale. They all belong to the Swope family, and on display for everyone to admire. Swope is a very big name in the car business in the Louisville metro area. And it’s in a separate building.
Letting visitors touch things is fine in countries like Japan, where people are taught to respect property, while hands-on museums in America have to be idiot-proof, like San Francisco’s Exploratorium.
Same reason Japan can have so many vending machines, which in America have to be watched or caged.
When I visited there, visitors were allowed to try out these electric vehicles on a controlled track around the facility. The Toyota Automobile Museum in Nagoya is also must see. Just hop on a bullet train in Tokyo.
I spent an afternoon at Megaweb back in 2005. I don’t recall the History Garage theme (I guess that was later), but I recognize many of the historic cars you show here. It was the first time I saw a Toyota 2000 in person and I must have spent 10 minutes moving around and studying it from every angle I could. Just gorgeous. Toyota’s current design staff would do well to spend a little time with it. They’ve definitely lost the plot.
Mark mentioned the Toyota Automobile Museum in Nagoya. There are actually two Toyota museums in that vicinity. The one with that name is located in Nagakute City, which I think is near Toyota Galactic HQ. It was opened in 1989 and has about 140 vehicles on display. They have a lot of special events and demonstrations. I have not been there myself, but it sounds like fun.
I have been to the other one, the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. It is located close to central Nagoya, in a restored pre-WWII factory building. I spent most of a day there and found it to be one the most interesting museums I have ever been in (and I have been in quite a few). Toyota has its roots in textile manufacturing, so half the building is devoted to that, and the other half to car manufacturing. This museum is all about how stuff is made. For example the car side has a small engine block line (not running, but using production equipment) so you can follow the blocks from casting through finishing. They have demonstrations of forging, spot-welding, injection molding, etc. It is full of stuff like that.
If you go to Nagoya or are in that area, allow a full day, and start with the textile side. Trust me, it is just as interesting as the car side. I realize the odds of visiting this place are low for most of the Curbside audience, but if the opportunity presents itself, set aside the time. Maybe Jim can arrange a meet-up.
What a great experience!