GUIDE
Which Toyota Museum Should You Visit Near Nagoya?
The short answer
If you have half a day and are staying near Nagoya Station, go to the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. If you have a full day, care about cars specifically rather than manufacturing, and do not mind a trip out to Nagakute, go to the Toyota Automobile Museum. They are not versions of the same visit.
SIDE BY SIDE
Compared
| Aspect | Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technologyトヨタ産業技術記念館 | Toyota Automobile Museumトヨタ博物館 |
|---|---|---|
| What it is about | How a loom manufacturer became a car manufacturer — the textile machinery is half the museum | The history of the car worldwide, told through vehicles from many makers |
| Where it is | Just north of Nagoya Station — walkable, or one stop on the Meitetsu line | Nagakute, east of the city — subway to Fujigaoka, then the Linimo line |
| Time to allow | Two to three hours, plus almost no travel | Two to three hours, plus about an hour of travel each way |
| Fits a half day? | Yes | Not comfortably |
| Hours | 9:30–17:00 | 9:30–17:00 |
| Closed | Mondays (the following day when Monday is a public holiday), and the New Year period | Mondays (the following day when Monday is a public holiday), and the New Year period |
| Adult admission | ¥1,000 | ¥1,200 |
| Getting there | 3 minutes' walk from Sako Station on the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line — one stop from Meitetsu Nagoya. The Meguru loop bus also stops here, from bay 11 at Nagoya Station bus terminal. | About 5 minutes' walk from exit 1 of Geidai-dori (Toyota Museum) Station on the Linimo line. From Nagoya Station this means the Higashiyama subway line to Fujigaoka, then Linimo. |
| Links | Open in Google Maps ↗Book on the official website ↗ | Open in Google Maps ↗Book on the official website ↗ |
Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technologyトヨタ産業技術記念館
- What it is about
- How a loom manufacturer became a car manufacturer — the textile machinery is half the museum
- Where it is
- Just north of Nagoya Station — walkable, or one stop on the Meitetsu line
- Time to allow
- Two to three hours, plus almost no travel
- Fits a half day?
- Yes
- Hours
- 9:30–17:00
- Closed
- Mondays (the following day when Monday is a public holiday), and the New Year period
- Adult admission
- ¥1,000
- Getting there
- 3 minutes' walk from Sako Station on the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line — one stop from Meitetsu Nagoya. The Meguru loop bus also stops here, from bay 11 at Nagoya Station bus terminal.
Toyota Automobile Museumトヨタ博物館
- What it is about
- The history of the car worldwide, told through vehicles from many makers
- Where it is
- Nagakute, east of the city — subway to Fujigaoka, then the Linimo line
- Time to allow
- Two to three hours, plus about an hour of travel each way
- Fits a half day?
- Not comfortably
- Hours
- 9:30–17:00
- Closed
- Mondays (the following day when Monday is a public holiday), and the New Year period
- Adult admission
- ¥1,200
- Getting there
- About 5 minutes' walk from exit 1 of Geidai-dori (Toyota Museum) Station on the Linimo line. From Nagoya Station this means the Higashiyama subway line to Fujigaoka, then Linimo.
They are owned by different parts of the same story
The confusion is understandable. Both carry the Toyota name, both are near Nagoya, and English-language listings often give them near-identical one-line descriptions. But the Commemorative Museum sits on the site of the original Toyoda spinning and weaving works, and its subject is the transition from textiles to cars. Roughly half of the floor space is looms.
The Automobile Museum, out in Nagakute, is a museum of the motor car as such. Its collection ranges well beyond Toyota, and the through-line is the development of the automobile rather than the history of one company.
So the question is not which is better. It is whether you want to understand a company and a city, or look at cars.
Getting to each one
The Commemorative Museum is the easier trip by a wide margin. The official site gives it as three minutes' walk from Sako Station, one stop from Meitetsu Nagoya, and it is also about fifteen minutes on foot from Nagoya Station itself. The Meguru loop bus stops outside, from bay 11 at the Nagoya Station bus terminal.
The Automobile Museum needs the Higashiyama subway line east to Fujigaoka and then the Linimo line to Geidai-dori, which the museum's own signage calls Toyota Museum Mae. From exit 1 it is about five minutes on foot. Budget an hour each way from Nagoya Station.
If you are choosing on cost
Both charge for adults, and the Automobile Museum is the more expensive of the two, before you add the longer journey. It does have one quirk worth knowing: the first and third floors of its Cultural Center building are free to enter, so it is possible to see part of the site without a ticket.
Discounts exist at both. The Commemorative Museum gives twenty per cent off to holders of a subway and city bus one-day pass, which is worth checking if you were going to buy one anyway.
The day of the week matters more than you would think
Both close on Mondays, moving to the following day when Monday falls on a public holiday. That means a Monday in Nagoya rules out both of them at once, which catches people out.
If you find yourself with a free Monday and wanted a museum of this kind, the SCMaglev and Railway Park is the nearest thing available — it closes on Tuesdays instead.