Visit to Tamiya Plastic Model Company

In my 12 years plus in Japan every time  would visit my in-laws I would always mention wanting to visit Tamiya, the world famous model kit manufacturer. This time I made it, we went down to Shizuoka by car therefore I had a means with which I could reach The Tamiya HQ.

To visit the company you are required to make a reservation, it is only possible to visit Tamiya during the week and. Not during weekends. 

The visit starts from the hall displaying the full range of 1/48 scale vehicles and miniatures. Following is the 歴史館 the history area that displays some of the oldest products from the company together with some famous dioramas. The best diorama on display is one depicting Japanese WW2 soldiers fighting a dinosaur!

Before another display area there is a nice plastic moulding machine popping out souvenir sprues of a Samurai model. 

In the hall there is also a large display of sport cars and bike. The last bit of the visit is the display hall.

The is also the ever present shop, but besides some tshirts and stickers it only had the standard products you can find in any model shop. I hope you liked the report.

Giovanni