Bandai Toy Museum

Bandai Toy Museum

Japan has a long and astonishing history in toy manufacturing. The Bandai Toy Museum is dedicated to collecting the major and renowned toy products produced by Bandai Co., Ltd. Bandai is one of Japan’s leading toy suppliers, founded in 1950 by Yasuji Yasunaga, primarily known for producing the Gundam series, as well as character models from Sunrise animation series such as Dunbine.

The Bandai Museum was originally located in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, and opened on July 19, 2003, as a comprehensive entertainment venue. Within an approximately 2,000-square-meter, eight-story building, it housed a variety of integrated entertainment facilities including a themed animation museum, theater, shops, and restaurants based on Bandai's famous franchises over the years. Later, the Bandai Museum ceased operations in Matsudo on August 31, 2006, and relocated to the Bandai Namco Namja Town entertainment center in Urawa Town, Tochigi Prefecture. The new museum began operations on April 28, 2007, covering a total area of 4,240 square meters and displaying 7,000 items.

The exhibits at the Bandai Toy Museum are carefully selected masterpieces from a pool of 30,000 items from Japan and abroad. Ranging from overseas exhibits rich in historical and cultural value to the latest and most popular modern toys in Japan, the museum caters to both children and adults. It features inventions by the great inventor Thomas Edison, with some items, such as gramophones, preserved in excellent condition allowing visitors to hear the voices of those legendary inventors from that era. Additionally, there are collections of era-defining sentai heroes and combining robots, as well as a 1:1 scale model of the ZAKU Dream, the original three-dimensional work created by Director Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Bandai Museum

Must-visit reason: One of Japan’s most fascinating toy museums

Continent where the attraction is located: Asia【Asia】

Country/Region where the attraction is located: Japan[Japan]

Province/State where the attraction is located: Tochigi Prefecture [Tochigi Prefecture]