Your adventure at Small Worlds is a ticket to a world of wonder, and it's designed to be enjoyed rain or shine. With an expansive total area of 7,000 square meters, it proudly stands as the largest miniature museum in all of Asia. The museum boasts three floors in total, with the third floor serving as the main gallery.

As you step into the museum, you’ll quickly realize that one of the highlights of this museum is its ever-changing nature. The museum hosts a variety of seasonal events, perfectly tuned to reflect the season. The other highlight is that the magic lies in the details. The museum operates at an 80:1 scale, ensuring that each creation is a true work of art lovingly handcrafted by a dedicated artisan team.

The Space Center area within the museum is a true highlight, and is a visitors’ favorite. It features the Space Shuttle Station with a flight schedule for you to experience a shuttle launch, and the Apollo Space Station with a launch schedule. The launch of a rocket, which might ordinarily take several days, is recreated here in five minutes, complete with realistic effects imitating fire, smoke, and sound.

What sets this experience apart is the storytelling – you'll hear the story before each launch or flight, and the effects are nothing short of incredible. Around the exhibit are various buttons, and when pushed, they trigger various fun reactions, from the roof of the space center opening and revealing detailed recreations of a control center, to whimsical figures and vehicles jumping to motion. It’s a lot of fun to tap a button to see what happens – sometimes it’s even an unexpected aroma!

When you walk into the Global Village area, it transports you to different parts of the world, from the European aesthetic modeled after the mountainous regions and Mediterranean resort areas, to the unique fantasy of Dragon Village, which resembles Kowloon in Hong Kong.

Modeled after European and Asian steampunk aesthetics, the interactive nature of the exhibit brings surprises such as the aroma of chocolate from a miniature donut factory.

Aviation enthusiasts will be thrilled by the recreation of Kansai Airport at the Kansai International Airport area. This exhibit features planes taking off and landing, with the added bonus of Santa Claus flying during the holiday season. The engineering at this exhibit is incredible, with planes taking off, landing, before parking at the gate. A large screen sets the scene, allowing you to witness the changing times of day along, and airport lights as time passes. Do look at the incredible detail of the airport, with even the restaurants displaying miniature food samples, and passengers pulling along their little luggages. If you take photos up close, it almost looks real.

For fans of the beloved anime series Evangelion, this area is a true delight. The exhibit takes you through various scenes from the earlier Evangelion movie, set in the streets of Hakone and Neo Tokyo III. Watch the buildings shrink and move to recreate a fight scene, with the music setting the stage giving the visitor a strong sense of anticipation.

With the exhibits done, the Creative Studio is where the magic is at. The creative minds behind the museum, from craft to engineering, are all here, and you’ll be able to have a backstage glimpse of how they create these worlds with 3D printing to figurines, and laser cutters. Signage in English helps set the scene.

Round off your trip to the cafe. The museum cafe serves a range of meals, desserts, and beverages, and the creation of a miniature Japanese town including castles as well as a sakura road and moving train in the center of the cafe sets a beautiful setting to relax and take in the (mini) scenery.

As for the gift shop, the shop’s DIY items are the bestsellers. DIY sets where you can recreate your own miniature world from scratch in a mini bento box start from 4,180 yen, and that of a sakura station in the shape of a book is 4,950 yen. Several of the items are perfectly packaged to fit efficiently in your suitcase and make great gifts.

For Evangelion fans, there is a drink holder at 2,860 yen that gives you a drink-all-you-want ticket at the museum. The most expensive item in the gift shop is a human-scaled Evangelion figurine that also lights up, and costs 2,100,000 yen.

Have you always wanted your own 3D figurine, and perhaps live in this world? Here, you can opt to make your own 3D figurine by getting your photo taken with a 3D scanner, which will set you back 2,000 yen if you opt for a 1:80 scale figurine, or 3,500 yen for a 1:35 scale figurine, and 8,000 yen for a 1:24 scale figurine. The ‘resident plan’ is priced from 3,500 yen, so that your figurine can live here at Small Worlds, at a place and exhibit of your own choosing (within a given area, of course). Alternatively you can also opt for the museum to send your figurine to you. The museum is able to deliver globally.

There are people who choose to live on top domes, in the middle of the street, on top of the mountains, or on random balconies. Fun fact, there is a couple proposing on the side of the resort in the Global Village area. If you want to live in Evangelion, they will even ensure that you dress the part.

These little figurines around the museum are all based on real life individuals - perhaps staff, their families, guests, celebrities, and perhaps even your friends. This just adds to the incredible detail of the museum. Do take time to admire these figurines - they’re definitely worth a second, and even third look.

Buying tickets:
Tickets can be bought online in advance at the link below or at the ticket machines or counters at the museum entrance.

Getting to Small Worlds:
It’s a 3-minute walk from Ariake Tennis no Mori Station on the Yurikamome Line. It’s a little harder to spot, but look for a container-like black building with a sports brand logo.