Technological Japan: robots, trains and future architecture

🤖 Technology / Futurism · 44 destinations · 127 activities

The image of futuristic Japan is partly true and partly stuck in the eighties: there are excellent science museums and record-breaking trains, and also fax machines in offices. What you can actually visit is concentrated in four or five cities. Several of these need booking ahead and some only run on weekdays.

The destinations, by real weight

What to do exactly

Yokohama — 13 activities

• Free Tour of the Kiyoken Shumai Factory 2 h booking

  Ninety free minutes watching the best-selling station bento in Japan being made, with a tasting of shumai straight off the line. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday only; bookings open three months ahead at midnight and go fast.

• Night cruise through the Keihin factories 2 h booking

  Ninety minutes among the refineries and chemical plants of the Keihin industrial belt, with pipework and flare stacks lit up a few metres from the hull and a guide on board. It leaves from the Hammerhead pier, costs 4,500 yen for adults and 3,000 for children, runs Tuesday to Sunday with departures around 19:00, and must be booked; it is cancelled if fewer than fifteen passengers sign up. Nothing is sold on board, so bring your own drinks, and the deck is bitterly cold in winter.

• Cup Noodles Museum 1.5 h

  An interactive museum where you can design your own instant ramen; general admission doesn't require a reservation, but the cup-design workshop hands out a limited number of same-day numbered tickets.

• Hara Model Railway Museum 2 h booking

  The collection Nobutaro Hara built over sixty years, with hand-made gauge 1 locomotives and a huge layout that runs on real metal rail, so the trains actually sound like trains. It costs 1,500 yen for adults, 1,000 for students and 750 for children from four; closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, open 10:00 to 17:00. Tickets must be bought in advance online or at a convenience store terminal, not at the door. It is five minutes from Yokohama Station.

• Kirin Brewery Tour 2 h booking

  Ninety-minute tour of the Namamugi plant in Tsurumi, ending with a tasting of freshly poured Ichiban Shibori. Over-20s only and online booking required; the price rose to 1,000 yen on 1 October 2026.

• Sky Garden Observatory at the Landmark Tower 1 h

  Observatory on the 69th floor of Yokohama's tallest building, with 360-degree views over Minato Mirai and, on clear days, Mount Fuji. 1,000 yen for adults, floor 69 at 273 metres. The lift is the fastest in Japan, about 40 seconds, but it stopped being the fastest in the world in 2016.

Tsukuba — 7 activities

• JAXA Space Center 2 h must-see

  Headquarters of Japan's space agency, with a full-scale replica of the ISS Kibo module and real hardware from the Hayabusa missions; free admission.

• AIST-Cube, the industrial institute's showcase 1.5 h

  The demonstration hall of Japan's largest industrial research institute, where you can see and interact with prototypes such as Paro, the therapeutic robot seal (formerly called Science Square Tsukuba).

• CYBERDYNE Studio and the HAL exoskeletons 1 h

  The showroom of the company that makes the HAL robotic exoskeleton, science fiction turned into a real medical product, born at the University of Tsukuba.

• Geological Museum 1.5 h

  A free museum run by the national geological agency, with minerals, fossils and a very visual explanation of the tectonics that shake Japan.

• KEK accelerator visitor centre 1 h

  The hall open to the public at the national particle physics laboratory, where researchers investigate why matter exists.

• Tsukuba Expo Center 1.5 h

  A science museum built to commemorate the 1985 World Expo, with a planetarium and a replica of the Shinkai 6500 deep-sea research submersible.

Tokyo — 16 activities

• Shibuya Crossing and Shibuya Sky 2 h must-see

  The most photographed crossing in the world, plus panoramic views from the Shibuya Sky observation deck. Two operational warnings: Shibuya Sky uses timed-entry tickets and it sells out, and since October 2024 drinking alcohol in the street has been banned throughout the whole area around the station between six in the evening and five in the morning, all year round. At Halloween the ward actively asks people not to come.

• Miraikan, National Museum of Emerging Science 3 h

  Robotics, biotechnology and the Geo-Cosmos globe in Odaiba. 630 yen for adults, closed Tuesdays, permanent exhibition free on Saturdays. Note: a renovation closure has been announced between October 2026 and April 2027; confirm before going.

• National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno 3 h

  A life-size blue whale at the entrance, Japanese fossils, the stuffed dog Hachiko and a 360-degree spherical theatre. One of the best-value museums in Tokyo.

• teamLab Planets (Toyosu) and teamLab Borderless (Azabudai Hills) 2.5 h booking

  Immersive digital art installations, one of Tokyo's most photographed experiences; Borderless reopened in Azabudai Hills after the original Odaiba venue closed in 2022. Correction: these are TWO different museums, in two different places and with different tickets. Planets is in Toyosu and is walked barefoot through knee-deep water; Borderless moved from Odaiba to Azabudai Hills in February 2024. Both use timed-entry tickets and both sell out.

• TOKYO Night and Light: projection on the Metropolitan Government Building 1 h

  The largest permanent projection mapping in the world according to Guinness, on almost 14,000 square metres of facade. Free, five showings a night between half past seven and half past nine, and upstairs there is a free observation deck at 202 metres.

• Driverless Yurikamome, from the front seat 1 h

  Fully automated monorail that crosses the Rainbow Bridge and makes a helical loop over the bay. Sit in the front row and you have the best driver's view in Tokyo for free.

Nagoya — 8 activities

• Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology 2.5 h must-see

  The history of Japan's textile and automobile industries, with live demonstrations.

• Toyota assembly line tour 3 h booking

  Toyota shows one of its plants in Toyota City for free: from a walkway you look down on the real assembly line, with the andon cord being pulled and kanban cards moving around, while the guide explains the production system half the world copied. Weekdays only, with online booking that opens months ahead and sells out as soon as it does, and photography absolutely forbidden. The meeting point is the Toyota Kaikan (9:30-17:00, closed Sundays), an hour from Nagoya by Meitetsu train plus bus.

• Kuragaike museum and the Toyota founder's house 2 h booking

  Toyota's other museum, far less visited than the Kaikan: here are the brand's first car, the 1936 Toyoda AA, the looms it all started with and, moved here stone by stone, the house where Kiichiro Toyoda, founder of the car company, lived. It reopened in March 2025 after seismic strengthening work. Entry is free but must be booked online, and it sits beside Lake Kuragaike on the outskirts of Toyota City.

• Science Museum and its planetarium 2.5 h

  Inside a steel globe suspended between two buildings is the world's largest planetarium dome, 35 metres across.

• SCMAGLEV and Railway Park 2.5 h

  JR Central's railway museum by the port, featuring historic bullet trains and the maglev train that holds the world speed record.

• Toyota Kaikan and the automobile museum 3 h

  Free exhibition of robots and new models in Toyota City, and a museum with 140 original cars dating from 1890. Note: in-person factory tours remain suspended since the pandemic and only a virtual tour is available.

Hakone — 6 activities

• Guided nature trail at Owakudani 1 h booking

  Access to the Owakudani Shizen Kenkyuro, closed for seven years after the 2015 eruption and reopened in March 2022. Entry by advance booking only, in four daily slots of thirty people maximum, accompanied by two safety monitors.

• The mountain railway and its three switchbacks 1 h

  The Hakone Tozan line is Japan's oldest mountain adhesion railway, with gradients of eighty per thousand, three switchbacks where driver and conductor swap cabs, and sprinklers that water the rail on the curves. 1919 engineering still running daily.

• Hydrangea train at night 1.5 h booking only mid-to-late June

  In June the mountain railway embankment fills with hydrangeas and Odakyu lights the stretches at night for the Yoru no Ajisai-go, a reserved-seat train that stops at the best points. In 2026 it ran from 13 to 30 June and sells out fast.

• Panoramic seat on the Romancecar to Hakone-Yumoto 1.5 h booking

  Odakyu's GSE Romancecar trains have a glassed-in observation cabin above the driver's position, with windows a metre high. The front-row seats sell out weeks in advance.

• Climb of the Hakone Turnpike by bike or motorcycle 2 h

  Toll road of 13 kilometres and more than 1,000 metres of ascent from Odawara up to the Daikanzan lookout, legendary among Japanese cyclists and motorcyclists. On clear days Mount Fuji fills half the windscreen.

• Living geology at the Hakone Geopark 2 h

  Hakone is a caldera of 40 square kilometres with a central dome, and the Geopark explains how the volcano is monitored. It makes sense of why the ropeway closes on some days even when the alert level is 1.

Nikko — 5 activities

• Akechidaira viewpoint by ropeway 0.75 h

  A three-minute ropeway to the only platform from which Kegon Falls, Lake Chuzenji and Mount Nantai are all visible at once. Critical warning: the Second Irohazaka is permanently one-way uphill, so you must stop on the way up because you cannot come back.

• Ashio copper mine by mine cart 2 h

  A mine worked since 1610 that became the largest in Japan, inside the municipality of Nikko. You enter by mine cart, descend 150 metres and cover about 300 on foot, for 830 yen. Warning: there is a provisional ticket office and route because of works from September 2026.

• Tobu SPACIA X train to Nikko 2 h booking

  Tobu's flagship train between Asakusa and Nikko, with private compartments, a lounge with a bar and active suspension. It turns the journey into part of the trip rather than a formality.

• Watarase Valley sightseeing train 2.5 h booking

  An open-sided railcar running the gorge up to Ashio, through tunnels and over bridges from the mining era. It pairs perfectly with the mine and is an industrial Nikko nobody associates with the Toshogu.

• Tobu World Square, the world at one to twenty-five 3 h

  A model park with more than a hundred World Heritage buildings reproduced with obsessive precision, the Toshogu itself included. It is a delightful absurdity and a painless way to get children through a day of heritage.

Nagasaki — 5 activities

• The Nagasaki tram 1 h

  Four lines with a very cheap flat fare and a one-day pass, connecting practically every point of interest. Cars from the 1950s run alongside modern units and electronic cards are accepted.

• Huis Ten Bosch 8 h booking

  It is in the city of Sasebo, a good hour and a half away by train, not in Nagasaki. It is Japan's largest theme park by area, reproduces a Dutch town at full scale and its big draw is the winter illumination, one of the largest in the world.

• Nagasaki Stadium City 2.5 h

  A private complex opened in October 2024 on former Mitsubishi industrial land, integrating a stadium, arena, hotel and shopping. It has ziplines crossing above the pitch and hotel rooms looking straight onto the grass.

• Nagasaki Science Museum 2 h

  A planetarium and interactive exhibits beside the Urakami river, designed for schoolchildren. Very useful as a rainy-day plan.

• Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen 'Kamome' 0.5 h booking

  A line opened in 2022 with wooden interiors designed by Eiji Mitooka. It still does not connect directly with Hakata: you have to change at Takeo-Onsen, about two hours in total.

Fukuoka — 6 activities

• teamLab Forest 1.5 h booking

  A permanent teamLab installation since 2020 on the fifth floor of BOSS E·ZO, next to the stadium. It is still open, contrary to what some out-of-date guides say.

• BOSS E·ZO FUKUOKA 3 h booking

  An entertainment complex attached to the stadium, with an external tube slide, a rooftop ropes course, virtual-reality sports and the Oh Sadaharu Baseball Museum. It also houses the teamLab.

• Fukuoka Tower 1 h

  234 metres clad in 8,000 semi-transparent mirror panels: the tallest seaside tower in Japan, with an observation deck 123 metres above Hakata Bay.

• Tenjin Big Bang 2 h

  Fukuoka relaxed the height limits near the airport in order to rebuild some 70 buildings in Tenjin. ONE FUKUOKA, from 2025, is already finished, with its large bookshop-lounge, and there are still works and diversions in the centre.

• Canal City Hakata 1.5 h

  A futuristic shopping complex with an indoor canal and fountain shows.

• Guided tour of the Mizuho PayPay Dome 1 h booking

  A walk through the dugout, the tunnel and the field of the only Japanese stadium with a retractable roof on that scale; it pairs well with a game.

What only happens on specific dates

• Hydrangea train at night Hakone mid-to-late June
• KRP Fes, open days at the Kyoto Research Park Kyoto late July
• Tokyo Game Show Tokyo five days in mid-September

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