★★★★★ 5.0
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Mitsubishi Minatomirai Industrial Museum
June 1994, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is about to unveil something extraordinary in Yokohama's gleaming Minato Mirai district... not just another corporate showcase, but Japan's first museum where you could literally touch the engines that launched rockets into space. Standing before this sleek building today, you're looking at what was revolutionary thirty-one years ago - a place where actual spacecraft technology became hands-on education. Step inside, and you'll find yourself face-to-face with a genuine LE-7A rocket engine... the very same type that powered Japan's H-IIA rockets carrying satellites and spacecraft beyond Earth's atmosphere. These aren't replicas - these engines survived real combustion tests, reaching temperatures of over 3,000 degrees Celsius before finding their retirement home here in Yokohama. But here's what most visitors miss entirely... that full-scale aircraft nose section dominating the aerospace zone? That's from the MRJ, Japan's first domestically produced passenger jet since the 1960s. You're standing inside the cockpit of aviation history, touching the composite materials that were supposed to revolutionize regional air travel. The museum's crown jewel hides on the second floor - the "Dodecathlon" lunar mining simulation, where twelve visitors collaborate to design spacecraft for harvesting Moon resources. It's not science fiction... it's Mitsubishi's actual blueprint for humanity's space-mining future, and you're experiencing tomorrow's technology today in the heart of Japan's most futuristic waterfront district.
Did You Know?
- The Mitsubishi Minatomirai Industrial Museum, established in 1994 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, is not just about cars—it showcases the company’s diverse technological innovations across land, sea, sky, and even space, featuring interactive exhibits, scale replicas of rockets, jet engines, submarines, and even a full-size cockpit section of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), allowing visitors to 'fly' a plane and get hands-on with Japan’s aerospace history.
- One of the museum’s most striking exhibits is a full-scale, disassembled mockup of the SHINKAI 6500, a manned deep-sea research submersible capable of diving to 6,500 meters—deep enough to explore 98% of the world’s seafloor—and the cockpit is so compact that it’s hard to believe three people can spend eight hours inside, offering a vivid look at Japan’s pioneering deep-sea exploration technology.
- Designed with families and children in mind, the museum features playful, interactive zones like the 'Astronaut Aptitude Test' touch-panel quiz and a 'Robot Arm Simulator' where kids can operate a robotic arm, blending education with entertainment and inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers; despite its corporate origins, the museum avoids heavy advertising, focusing instead on engaging, hands-on learning in both Japanese and English, making it accessible and fun for international visitors.