Tokyo, Japan

There are 2 places to see in Tokyo area itself. All directions are from Shinjuku because
that is where I stay most of the time I am in Tokyo.

The first is the Yasakuni Shrine. You can see Mr. Harada's Zero in the main lobby, and
the D4Y Suisei Judy in the inner part of the museum. Both the A6M5 Zero and the 
Judy are in really good condition.


Direction to the Yasakuni Shrine:

1. You have to get to the Ichigaya Station.  You can get to this station from 
Shinjuku 3 different ways:  1st, you can take the JR Sobu Line (Yellow train) 
which takes about 5 stops to get there. 2nd, the independent Shinjuku Line 
also goes to Ichigaya. Or, 3rd, you can take the subway (I have not done it 
this way, but I think it is the Maronouchi Line (Red Circle).

2. Coming out the main exit of Ichigaya Station, you can see the bridge going 
across the train tracks on your left. Do NOT cross the tracks on this bridge.  
Just in front of you and slightly angling to the right is a major street 
(NOT the one running left to right in front of station, but the one running 
straight away from you).  This street is Yasakuni-dori.  Guess where it goes?  
Walk up this street about 0.5 mile and the shrine is on the left side of the 
street.  There is a side entrance on Yasakuni-dori or else you can turn left 
at the end of the block and go about  block to the main entrance.  You will 
know you are about there when you see a high stone wall on the left side of 
the street that stretches about 2 blocks.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is NOT the place to be an UGLY AMERICAN.  This is the 
National Shrine for Japanese War Dead from 1860s to and including WWII.  
You may find that some Japanese may not like your presence, but for the most 
part they are too polite to bother you.  But, I have seen old vets come up 
to the front torii gate and salute, so remember where you are.  Most of the 
people you encounter there have lost a relative in the war or participated 
in WWII.  I would not recommend trying to strike up any conversations.

WARNING: This is not a PG-13 place.  It may even bother you a little.  Some 
of the exhibits are not pleasant and heart-wrenching, e.g. the photograph of 
the Navy flier holding his little baby before he flies off on a Kamikaze 
mission against the US Navy.


The 2nd place to see in Tokyo is the Maritime Science Museum. Here, they have
the H8K Emily flying boat on display in front of the museum proper. It is now
looking pretty good since the airframe restoration last year.

Directions to Museum of Maritime Science from Shinjuku

1. Take Chuo (Orange) Line to Kanda or Tokyo.  At either station change to 
Yamanote (Green) Line to go to Shimbashi (2nd stop from Tokyo Station 
towards Shinagawa).
2. At Shimbashi station, exit the Karasumori Exit if you can find it.  
If all you can find is Ginza or Hibiya exit, take the Ginza exit.  DO NOT 
TAKE HIBIYA EXIT  you will end up on the wrong side of the station.
3. If you exit the Ginza exit, turn right and go down the side of Shimbashi 
station.  You will run into the Karasumori exit.  To the left, you will see 
a sign for Yurikamome (elevated monorail).  The logo for the monorail is 
like a stylish bird.  This is the entrance to the train.  You up the short 
stairs and take the escalator upstairs.  Then you take a left and walk about 
a block (across the street).  You can then go up 1 more floor to the ticket 
concourse.  The train platforms are then 1 more floor up.  The fare to 
Fune-no-kagakukan is 370 yen; it is the 6th stop from Shibuya.  
The stops are:  Shimbashi, Takeshiba, Hinode, Shibaura-futo, Odaiba-kaihinkoen, 
Daiba, and then Fune-no-kagakukan. The stops are announced in English and 
there is a display overhead that shows the next stop.  The trip to the 
museum is towards the other end station of Ariake.  The total trip from 
Shinjuku takes about 1 hour.
4. The stop can also be noticed by the large 4-engine seaplane in the museum 
parking lot right next to the monorail station.  The museum building is 
roughly in the shape of an ocean going liner.  It is the 2nd stop after 
crossing a large part of Tokyo Bay on a bridge.

Other places in Japan,

There are quite a few other places in Japan. I will briefly list them as well.

1. Hamamatsu Air Base, Hamamatsu, Japan. This museum is about 1+ hours on train from
Tokyo. It has a good restored Zero and some modern stuff.

2. Nagoya, Japan is 2+ hours by high-speed train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo. At the
airport there is a museum (Nagoya Airport Museum) with a good restored A6M2 Zero. 
Also, there are a large number of models of WWII Japanese aircraft.

3. Kamigahara Museum is in Kamigahara, Japan which is near Nagoya, Japan. It is
probably 1 hour by car from Nagoya.  The Kamigahara museum does NOT have any WWII
Japanese aircraft, but is still an interesting place to visit.

4. Lake Kawaguchi Air Museum is ONLY open in August, so I won't say any more about this.

5. Shirahama Zero Park in Shirahama, Japan has an A6M7 outdoors. IT is NOT in the
best of condition, but not too bad, either. THe 2-man subs are also interesting. They
also have a good small Japanese tank on display.

The southern island of Kyushu (5+ hours from Tokyo on high-speed train), has 2
good museums. The first is the Kamaikaze Museum at Kagoshima. There is a Ki-61 Tony
on display there. The 2nd is the Kanoya Air Base Museum, Kanoya, Japan. It has a well
restored A6M5 Zero.

That is all the museums that I know, I hope this helped.
Rod Larson
