Good news for all Gundam and Gunpla fans: Bandai announces the opening of its new Gundam Museum on September 2, 2025, in Shizuoka, Japan. This time, the museum offers visitors an opportunity to design their own model kit that they can bring home.
In case you’re not familiar, Gundam is an animated Japanese science fiction franchise that began in 1979. It focuses on man’s use of giant robots called “mobile suits,” which the characters use for military purposes. The popularity of these robots gave rise to plastic models known as Gunpla, which builders spend time and effort assembling.
Cutting the excess plastic and snapping together the various parts, the Gunpla craze rose, especially as the beloved franchise continues its fame in Japan and globally.
As reported by Nikkei, Gunpla sales outside of Japan rose to 50% annually, and Bandai quickly addressed this demand by opening a new factory at Bandai Hobby Center in Shizuoka. The museum is located on the second and third floors of the factory and is called The Bandai Hobby Center Plamo Design Industrial Institute Museum, or BHC PDII Museum.
Within the museum, visitors can peer through a window overlooking the creation and packaging of Gunpla kits. At the end, they enter the Interactive Laboratory Area, where they can experience the development and process of making their own Gunpla kits–from colors to sizes, among other personalized features. Lastly, a staff member will do the final touches on the injection molding of the plastic.
There’s more: visitors can receive an award for being one of the three customers with the best customized Gunpla each month.
If you wish to visit the museum, you must make a reservation, particularly in September, when it will first open its doors. A ticket lottery will also commence on June 2 on their official website. The official English website also provides more information and details before you go on your trip.