JAPAN'S BEST-DESIGNED RESEARCH LABS5 labs
Research labs in Japan with spaces you can visit
Most research labs are working sites closed to the public. These five have a part you can actually go into: a free beauty park with a café, a mayonnaise museum, a musical-instrument museum, a construction history museum and a factory tour. Booking rules and hours are on each page.
Shiseido Beauty Park: free entry, café and art on the ground and 2nd floors
Innovation Road, Yamaha's free museum, by booking
Mayo Terrace, a free mayonnaise museum, by booking
NOVARE Archives, a free construction history museum, by booking
Facility tours at Morinaga's Tsurumi site, by booking
Planning a visit
Architects and visiting for these 5 labs
| Lab | Area | Design | Can you visit? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shiseido Global Innovation Center | Yokohama | — | Shiseido Beauty Park, on the ground and 2nd floors: a skin… |
| Yamaha Innovation Center | Hamamatsu | — | Innovation Road, Yamaha's corporate museum, inside Building… |
| Kewpie Sengawa Kewport | Sengawa | Nikken Sekkei | Mayo Terrace, Kewpie's mayonnaise museum, inside Sengawa… |
| Shimizu NOVARE | Shiomi | Shimizu Corporation | NOVARE Archives, Shimizu Corporation's history museum of… |
| Morinaga R&D Center | Yokohama | Shimizu Corporation | Facility tours at Morinaga's Tsurumi site |
From each company's or architect's official page. “—” means it does not say. “Not open to the public” means the official pages we used offer no public visits.
Questions visitors ask
Can I visit any of the labs in Japan you can visit?
Shiseido Global Innovation Center, Yamaha Innovation Center, Kewpie Sengawa Kewport, Shimizu NOVARE and Morinaga R&D Center have a space open to visitors: Shiseido Global Innovation Center — Shiseido Beauty Park, on the ground and 2nd floors: a skin diagnosis lab, a café (Shiseido Kitchen Lab), fibona Lab and an art space (see the official page); Yamaha Innovation Center — Innovation Road, Yamaha's corporate museum, inside Building 21 of the head office site (Required, up to 90 days ahead; up to 50 people per slot. Staff-guided tours (Fridays and Saturdays) need a separate phone booking); Kewpie Sengawa Kewport — Mayo Terrace, Kewpie's mayonnaise museum, inside Sengawa Kewport (Required, online or by phone; you may enter 20 minutes before your time). The research areas themselves are not open.
Who designed the labs in Japan you can visit?
Kewpie Sengawa Kewport: Nikken Sekkei; Shimizu NOVARE: Shimizu Corporation; Morinaga R&D Center: Shimizu Corporation.
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