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Toyota Mega-Web: Historic Car Museum in Tokyo's Odaiba

 It's a bit out of the way and it's essentially a tourist trap, but Odaiba does have a few things to offer. There's Joypolis, which is a video game amusement park, a few malls, the Fuji TV Building, and a few other attractions, not to mention the interesting architecture. It took me a couple visits to really see it (almost) all, but a single day is probably enough for most people. I recommend the lunch taco buffet in Decks (where Joypolis is), a visit to the Fuji TV Building, and viewing the old and new cars at Toyota Mega-Web. You'll find Mega-Web split between opposite ends of the mall (Palette Town) with the giant Ferris Wheel.
 On the end of Palette Town without the Ferris Wheel, you can find a museum of old cars. They seem to move from time to time and new ones might be rotated in every once in a while.
 I could roll in this one. Note the mat in front of the car; each vehicle has one of these with Japanese and English descriptions about the model.
 The cars are displayed in a retro-themed large room. It's intended to look like an American street, seemingly in different eras.
 Despite being a Toyota museum, the cars aren't all Toyotas. Corvette, anyone?
 They have a "garage" with some more cars. On my second visit the Delorean was on the "street".
 Another classic car, in front of a mafia store apparently.
 The window display is pretty interesting. Gas mask, ice boots, gardening tools...
 I think my grandfather had a car like this at one point.
 I've now seen three or four of these three-wheeled cars in Japanese car museums. I think it's small enough to fit in my apartment, which is saying a lot because my place is tiny.
 Here's the garage. Too bad you can't go upstairs and look in the windows.
 A narrow alley that has more cars might have more of a European theme.
 I don't see many of these.
 Artsy hood logo shot.
 One of my favorite movies as a child was The Love Bug. I still have an affinity for VW Bugs; maybe someday I'll own one of these. I'd be happy even if it didn't run, just to use as a piece of furniture in what would need to be a very large living room.
There are several racing-related displays in the museum - a "pit stop", a full-size car mounted on a wall next to the souvenir shop and cafe, and plenty of racing models. Actually, there are hundreds of little toy cars and model cars in display cases in a couple hallways. There's also a large garage room that holds about a dozen more vehicles and a few other entertainment options, such as the ability to test drive cars.

I'll get to the other half of Tokyo Mega Web - on the other side of the mall - at some point in the future. The car museum is free and should be open daily from 11 AM until 9 PM. Some things (including the cafe) close earlier. The entire Palette Town mall complex has a lot to see, which, again, I'll post about sometime later.

3 comments:

  1. Someone in town here actually owns a Delorean. It passed me a couple of months ago, and it took me a few minutes to realize what I was seeing. In person, and without the extra gadgets on the back, it looks a lot flatter/lower to the ground.

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  2. When I was a teenager, someone in my neighborhood had a Delorean. I saw him driving around the subdivision with the wings out a couple times.

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  3. That was a cool place to go it's in a mall like atmosphere with coin operated games like air hockey.

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