Are Your Ready?
After purchasing your ticket, those backlit words are what you walk towards. This is as you make your way down a long blackened tunnel-like hall. You are in a seemingly unassuming warehouse-esque building in the Ariake area of the Koto Ward in Tokyo, Japan.
If you knew nothing about Small Worlds Tokyo, from the outside you would think that it is a Neon Genesis Evangelion exhibit. This is owed to the fact that there is a large scale statue of Evangelion Unit 01 on a pedestal outside of the entrance.
In the same building, As you stare at the giant anime mech, to its left, Under Armor has offices and a storefront. To the right, loading docks. On the backside of the building are more loading docks. Presumably at least some of these docks are for Under Armor. Others, for some logistics company that is advertised on the buildings signage. Across one street, a massive multipurpose 15,000 seat arena set within a tennis park with dozens of courts. Directly across from the imposing anime character, a massive apartment complex. Something is out of place.
And yet, for Japan, not so much.
It was early 2020, before the fall, when I learned about the forthcoming Small Worlds Miniature Museum. Though information was scarce from the reports I read. It was to be a scale model museum. Like miniature scale. Not quite Warhammer Epic scale, but quite small nonetheless. Which is really cool and all as a person that spends much of his hobby life in the miniature hobby world. But what specifically piqued my interest is actually in the forefront of the above picture. The Neon Genesis Evangelion exhibit that was announced. One that included a scale replica of Tokyo III. [eyebrow raising intensifies]
Going so far as to have a piece of this, my favorite anime, tattooed down my spine over 20 years ago. I think it’s safe to say that if it is related to Eva, I probably want to see it. And to this date, while some things have come and gone without me being able to check them out (because of my meatspace location), I have: been to theme park attractions, seen art installations, and even been to a sword exhibit which took inspiration from the anime in the creation of its display pieces. Oh and bought SO many goods.
So yeah, I decided quite quickly that I was going to Small Worlds Tokyo. Not that there was much to mull over.
But then the world fell apart. And though the museum did still end up opening in 2020, it was nearly impossible to travel. Seeing as the world was shut down with chain, lock, and key. When the pieces of this world and its societies were finally starting to be put back together, and the noose loosened around global travel, life circumstances then intervened. So I still could not yet make the 14 hour flight. But patience, as they say, can often be rewarded.
Spring forward to present year err… Spring, and I finally make my return to my second home country of Japan. Chief on the to-do list: Visit Small Worlds Tokyo.
The Small Worlds
There are approximately six areas in Small Worlds museum. With some areas containing multiple attractions. There is also a cafe with tasty lunch fare/beverages as well as a gift shop at the end. As you enter the main exhibit floor from the elevator you are greeted by a massive display on the wall that reads Small Worlds. Initially, it is not so impressive. It’s once you look closer that you realize what you’re in for. Inside of the wall, seen from inside the letters of the words are hundreds of wooden models. Things like animals, abstract designs, and various clockwork things.
The Space Center Area
The first area that you enter is The Space Center. Which, surprise-surprise, houses a massive space themed display as well as a medium sized giant-robot display. Because, Japan. The first thing I noticed as I rounded the corner were two static displays. One of a Saturn V rocket and one of the later generations STS-era Space Shuttle orbiter. My interest shot past the redline within the first few steps. There was also what appeared to be a bar in this room. Where you can grab a drink for the walk. But this was not open when we visited.
Opposite to these two models is the massive Space Center display. From the far right: an Apollo mission-era Cape Canaveral, Florida. Complete with launch pad, crawler transport track, and the vehicle assembly building. As well as some other warehouses, admin buildings and whatnot. Far away from the launch pad, the spectator bleachers are also visible. Moving further to the left you seamlessly transition to a futuristic Moon Base. Which has various industrial sectors, launch sites, static displays and whatnot.
The scale is truly massive, and to add to the wonder, hundreds, if not thousands of tiny scale people, animals, and creatures dot the environments. The spectator bleachers, full with people wanting to behold the rocket launch. The futuristic Moon Base area , packed with tourists learning about space and observing the giant craters. It’s wild. There is even a small tunnel you can crawl in and pop your head out of a hole in the middle of the display. To give you a true first person idea of the scale. I did not do this, as the tunnel was quite small for a full grown adult male. But it is perfect for children and smaller sized adults.
These large scale dioramas are not necessarily solely static displays. Some aspects move or are even interactive. Throughout the museum there are also small lighted buttons visitors can press. Each button has a small description, often cryptic, of what it does. You may have to search for the triggered effect and just may miss it. So it may take a couple button presses. For example: at the spectator bleacher section at the Canaveral launch site, if you press the button, flash bulbs will light up from people taking pictures. Another example: In the field trip picture above, the kids are actually all inside the building, and you cannot see them. If you press the button, the building shell rises exposing the inside.
And then there are the larger events. At periodic times throughout an hour, full-on events occur. In this specific area, it is the rocket launch. During this event, over on the Cape Canaveral side, the front doors of the vehicle assembly building close and the crawler begins the long trek to the launch site. While this is happening there are bilingual explanations being broadcast eventually culminating in a countdown. Once the crawler reaches the launch site, and the countdown reaches zero, there is the launch of the Saturn V rocket. It’s all crazy, the mechanics of it all. From the crawler moving to the launch.
Rocket Movement and Launch
Diaclone Display
Also in the Space Center Area is the Diaclone display. A smaller, in comparison, scene. Diaclone is something that I was not familiar with. On the surface, it appeared to be very Gundam/Voltron in design. But after a little further research(read: Google search), it turned out that the early 1980’s Diaclone toy line was actually the source material from which Transformers came to be. Pretty neat.
This scene also has a scheduled event that occurs a few times an hour. In the event the base is being attacked by enemies, presumably from space. This is represented by a projector displayed scene on the wall above the display. To counter the threat, a large mech appears from the underground bunker and raises its cannon to fire. The threat is neutralized and the mech returns to its bunker. It wasn’t the most spectacular event I saw during this visit. But it was still pretty fun.
Diaclone Threat Neutralization
The Global Village Area
The Global Village Area is another massive display with multiple sections. In it are: a mountainous village, a Mediterranean style village, a fantasy style village, and a Hong Kong-esque city. All of which have trains running through/around them. Each has their own unique points. For example: the mountain area has skiers zipping down the slopes and a mine, in which they appear to be mining emeralds. The fantasy area has clockwork dragons and Pegasus’.
The Hong Kong area has the most going on though. There are dragons and pandas in the mountains, robots all over the place, and even a subterranean area in the mountain where giant ants are plotting something. There are seriously so many nooks and crannies in this city area. Throughout the Global Village area you can also control various things, such as the speed of a train, turning on the giant windmills, or making a Pegasus move.
Creators Gallery Area
This area has many smaller traditionally scaled dioramas that were created by people or companies not necessarily directly affiliated with Small Worlds. In here you can see period pieces centered around Japanese history, Victorian townhouses, a medieval blacksmith, and even a 1950’s era hotdog stand. The craftsmanship and detail put into these make anything I have ever designed/built seem like a kindergarten project.
My favorite displays in this area were the Japanese period pieces. The use of geometry in them to convey distance is so cool. If you are standing at the right angle in front of one, you’d swear you are looking down a long row of houses or street. I also really enjoyed the train stations. Shinjuku Station and Tokyo Station are two places that I am very familiar with. I am also densha-otaku(train geek). So seeing the hyper detail put into these was awesome.
Misc Sights and Activities Throughout The Exhibits
There are Easter eggs spread throughout the building. From miniature people “helping” build things here and there, to random ladders and stairs hooked on to random corners of random walls. One main draw to this museum is the 3D Miniature Scanning system. In this you can take a 3D scan of your body and from there you can have 3-4 different sized miniature models of yourself printed. The largest of which stands just a bit taller than a modern age 40K Terminator or character. The smallest probably about as tall as my finger nail is from cuticle to tip.
This is a pretty neat system that creates a very unique souvenir. For the larger sized miniature scans, they will actually send the model to you via DHL or another shipping partner. Worldwide. This is because it takes approximately one month to finish, given that there is always a backlog of customer orders. It is a very popular attraction. So much so that they have special times where you can actually bring in your pets and have them 3D scanned with you. Though I have no idea how you make an animal stay perfectly still for 5-10 seconds. Many Japanese celebrities have also come and had their likenesses scanned.
For the smallest scale miniatures, you can actually pay for a one year residency program. In this, you can make any pose you like and wear various costumes. Then you can pick a spot anywhere in the exhibits and be placed there for a period of one year. Pretty damn cool. I was so tempted to be put in to the Evangelion area. But decided not to in the end. If I did that, I would want to be able to see it first hand. But there would be no way I could come back to Japan in one year. So, in the end, my wife and I just opted for the largest scale model to be shipped back home to us. It is not exactly cheap ranging in the 80-100$ spectrum, with shipping extra. You can also buy a wooden plinth to mount your miniature on at the gift shop.
The 3D scan itself takes only about 5-10 seconds to complete. You enter the center of a large 360 degree photo studio that has dozens of cameras. Then you assume the pose you’d like to be immortalized in. Afterwards you verify that all the pics came out well. There was easily about 100 shots. There are also costumes and props that you can use. Presumably for a fee. There was seriously full sized Buster Swords(FFVII). Or you can bring your own cosplay. It was a fun experience. There are also painting workshops that can be scheduled. Where you can try your hand at painting in miniature scale. In these workshops you can also make small dioramas.
Towards the end of the museum, you make your way through said workshop. This is also where the staff create many of the models and miniatures. I saw massive printers, scanners and various other CNC machines in there. While there were no painting classes going on when we passed through, we did get to see some of the staff working on building and painting.
Back near the Kansai Airport exhibit one staffer was working on a very large sized scene. In hindsight, from the website information, this was apparently the exhibit that we apparently missed. The Nightlife in Japan exhibit. Which was supposed to be in the cafe area. It was apparently taken out for fixing or remodeling. There were a lot of models that were knocked over or missing, presumably from kids or other people touching the exhibits. You can occasionally see glue marks and toppled people near the edges of the displays.
KansaI International Airport Area
This was another area I was excited for. In this area they made a room-sized replica of the Kansai International Airport(KIX or ICAO:RJBB) that is located near Osaka in western Japan. The area is complete with moving planes(landing, departing, taxiing) and equipment as well as highly detailed terminals. Surrounding the display are giant LED screens showing the surrounding scenery. The whole area also has day and night modes. So the sun sets and rises. At night the airport is lit up with all the runway and taxi lighting. It’s super detailed.
Connecting the room, elevated a bit, is an airport lounge where you can oversee the entire area. This is also a great place to sit and relax for a bit, with a lot of comfortable chairs and tables. Throughout the area, airport announcements can be heard about arrivals, departures, and cancellations.
Airport Lounge Area
KIX
The moving parts of this exhibit were constantly in motion. Flights would land and taxi to the gates. Flights would pushback from the gate and taxi to the runway for takeoff. Then they would actually take off and disappear into the distance(gates that open on the wall). I would love to know how the engineering behind it all works. In the case of the aircraft that land, they actually transition from being on bars that guide them to the runway to moving about the airport. I assume by magnets. But may be wrong.
Landing and Taxiing
Takeoff
Neon Genesis Evangelion Area
At last!
As soon as you enter the Evangelion area you are greeted with the sight of a massive Unit 01 crashing through the floor. Additionally there is a Lance of Longinus stuck in the ground and a Progressive Knife vibrating through an angel core. I was already heavily geeking out. In the same room were some other Evangelion statues. Next to these statues were placards with descriptions and prices. The highest was almost $2,000.00. I tried, my wife said no… This is also the area that you take the 3D pictures used for turning your likeness into a miniature. The studio equipment can be seen in the background of a couple of the pictures of the statues.
Heading down a very-NERV hallway you make your way into the EVA launch/recovery cages, and I spent a lot longer in this place than I am willing to admit. In this area there are constant launches and recoveries of all three Eva units and it is all set to the music and sounds from the anime. Super cool.
Recovery(closeup)
Full Launch and Recovery
Launch Alternate Angle(closeup)
Tokyo III
I could have spent the better part of a day here. There was so much Evangelion fan service spread out inside this massive room. From characters, to places, to static scenes straight out of the anime. Even to this day I see pics from various sources from this area, and I am kicking myself for not seeing ‘that’ first hand. In fact I was geeking out so hard that I wasn’t taking many pictures at all. I was just pacing back and forth looking at this and that. But I did take videos of the city transitions.
The interactive parts of these displays were pretty neat. One showed gunfire from NERV Agents. One triggered a fisherman’s fishing rod to flick. One changed street lights. A lot of the interactions are so subtle, and you have to really look for them. Which is pretty neat. Because in searching for the movement or light, you find other stuff.
NERV and UN VTOL aircraft
Tokyo III is the fortress city created to protect and defend the Japanese citizens living there. Beneath the city is the headquarters of NERV. And this is probably the only thing I wish that they figured out a way to do. I would love to have seen the GeoFront. The giant cavernous space under the city. When there is an attack on the city, the massive buildings retreat below ground, now suspended within the GeoFront. Which Small Worlds does show!
Tokyo III Transition to Defense Mode
Tokyo III Returning to Normal Mode
Was I ready?
Well, to answer the big bold question from way back at the top, I definitely thought I was ready.
I knew what Small Worlds was, and I had obviously seen pics online, but what I was not prepared for was the scope of it all. There is so much to see in these exhibits. So many corners and hiding places for those Easter eggs. I mentioned it above, that there are so many pictures I have seen about the interwebs. Pictures of stuff that I did not see with my own eyes at the museum. And it wasn’t from a lack of effort. I think we spent almost four hours in the museum, including lunch at the cafe. That said, I think it is easy to justify multiple trips to this museum. Because you will most likely see stuff you missed before within the attractions. There is also the fact that the residency program has many of the models changing within the displays. So the random models you see will be changing periodically.
There is also the collaborations and sponsored events that seem to happen. While we were there, a scavenger hunt event was set up by a sponsor. A sausage company. In the hunt you need to find various sausage characters throughout the exhibits. When you do, there are some characters that you write down on your guide that is provided for you at the ticket booth. If you fill in all of the blanks correctly, you get a prize. In our case it was a free sausage at the cafe. Unfortunately, we ate prior to turning in the sheet. There are also feints set up all over the place. These little sausage characters are spread out everywhere in the exhibits. From the space center to Kansai airport. I don’t remember seeing them in the Evangelion exhibits.
As you can see from their size, you really do have to search. For example: in the middle picture above, do you remember the SMALL WORLDS wall I talked about way at the beginning, where inside the wall were hundreds of wooden models? The first point on the scavenger hunt is located inside that wall.
1000% Would Recommend
If you find yourself in Tokyo, or are just making wishlist’s for a trip to Tokyo, check out Small Worlds Miniature Museum. Odds are, if you are reading this website, scale models are probably your thing. I would recommend going early, like before lunch. As the afternoon can get crowded. When we were leaving, two busloads of middle-schoolers arrived. And the volume level of the entire place shot up 75%. We arrived around 10am and it was nice and leisurely while we were there. Thanks for reading!
Small Worlds Miniature Museum Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Robert
All of the following are true, except for one:
Robert is: a Hobbyist with too many hobbies to list, a Music Lover, an RPG/JRPG Gamer, a Mustard Lover, Chaotic Neutral, a Japanese Speaker, a Veteran, an Otaku, an Aviation Professional, a New York Rangers Fan, a Chaos Lover With Loyalist Tendencies, in a toxic relationship with spicy foods..
