Information for the next exhibition at the grand gallery of the Kadokawa Musashino Museum: a large-scale immersive Gallery Experience digital art exhibition. “GALAXY EXPRESS 999” is the sixth in the series of immersive art exhibitions at Kadokawa Culture Museum. It is based on the classic 1979 anime film of the same name.
Kadokawa Musashino Museum is also known as Kadokawa Culture Museum or Kadcul for short. The grand gallery is on the 1st (ground) floor of the Kadokawa Culture Museum in Tokorozawa Sakura Town, Japan’s hippest entertainment town! To date they have had five 360-degree installations, including two Ukiyo-e exhibitions of which one was the very first exhibition at the Grand Gallery. Others included the very popular Van Gogh, Salvador Dali and Monet immersive exhibitions. More than 240,000 people visited the Van Gogh exhibition. And this spring – autumn Kadcul will have another experiential digital art theater that immerses you in a huge 360-degree video space.
Kadokawa Culture Museum Grand Gallery
Kadokawa Musashino Museum is just one of the many offerings at Saitama’s trendiest entertainment town: Tokorozawa Sakura Town. It is part of the Cool Japan Forest Project, an initiative between Kadokawa Corporation and Tokorozawa city. Kadokawa Corporation are one of the largest publishing companies in Japan. They are known for their manga magazines in particular. Manga features greatly in the new complex.
The Kadokawa Musashino Museum Grand Gallery is an “experience-based digital art theater” that completely fills more than 1,100 square meters with images and music. It allows the visitor an entirely immersive experience, where you step into the art and stories. It is a completely innovative visual experience that combines multiple high-brightness projectors and seamlessly connects all walls and floors is unique to Kadokawa Musashino Museum, providing a special time and space that can be shared, unlike movies or VR.
But there is more to the Kadokawa museum than manga, with several other facilities including the grand gallery on the first floor. There are several other exhibition areas in the museum. For example, on the third floor you can find the EJ Anime Museum. Another is the Edit and Art Gallery on the fourth floor of the museum. You can find a floor by floor guide to the Kadokawa Museum here. Apart from the Kadokawa Culture / Musashino museum there is the Cool Japan shrine, restaurants, shops and event. There was also an ‘EJ Anime Hotel’ and TeamLab “Acorn Forest” too, but unfortunately they both closed already.
GALAXY EXPRESS 999 – The Galaxy Experience (2026)
Based on the 1979 classic anime film Galaxy Express 999, visitors enter the world of the story and experience it as if they are passengers traveling with Tetsuro and Maetel through the galaxy. The exhibition uses 32 high-resolution 4K laser projectors, surround sound, and a 1,000 m² projection space to create a fully enveloping 30‑minute journey. The experience begins the moment visitors enter, with a recreated train car and a star‑filled “window” view. The expanded world includes scenes and spaces that go beyond the original film, designed to feel like stepping inside the universe of 999.
Music for the exhibition is newly composed by Kenji Kawai, with the finale featuring Godiego’s iconic theme song. After the immersive section, visitors walk along a symbolic 25‑meter railway lined with memorable quotes, then explore production materials, concept art, and background information about Leiji Matsumoto’s themes – especially the tension between eternal mechanical life and finite human life. Exclusive pamphlets and museum‑only merchandise will be available.
Information
Exhibition: GALAXY EXPRESS 999 – The Gallery Experience 銀河鉄道999 THE GALAXY EXPERIENCE あの旅は、まだ続いている
Exhibition Dates
From Saturday April 25th 2026 to October 26th 2026
Hours
The museum is closed on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Tuesdays of the month, unless they are public holidays. Exhibition hours are from 10 am to 6 pm from Sunday to Thursday. On Fridays and Saturdays the museum is open until 9 pm. (Last entry is 30 minutes before closing time everyday). The museum will also be closed between June 1st and June 5th 2026.
Cost
Tickets cost 2700 yen for adults, 2200 yen for teenagers and 1500 yen for elementary aged school children. There is no charge for preschoolers. It is highly recommended to purchase tickets in advance online.
Phone number: 0570-017-396. They man the phone from 2 pm to 5 pm on weekdays only.
All images, unless stated otherwise, are from the official website.
Access
The Kadokawa Musashino Museum Grand Gallery is a ten minute walk from Higashi Tokorozawa station. The museum is about 3.6 kilometers from the Tokorozawa Interchange of the Kanetsu expressway. Parking is available – it costs 200 yen for 30 minutes, but capped at 600 yen on weekdays and 1800 yen on weekends.
Previous displays at the Grand Gallery
- Kengo Kuma exhibition, which was the very first exhibition in the Grand Gallery of the Kadokawa Museum
- Yokai Pandemonium exhibition
- The first experiential digital art theater: Ukiyo-e theater from Paris, the Spirit of Japan from October 2021 to Golden week 2022
- The second experiential digital art theater: Van Gogh, This is How I see the world from Saturday June 18th to Monday January 9th 2023 (Extended due to popularity from Sunday November 27th).
- TAGUKORE: Dunno A Thing About Art (But I like it) タグコレ 現代アートはわからんね From Saturday February 4th to Sunday May 7th 2023
- Unveiling Tutankhamen: The Pharaoh’s Timeless Adolescence from Saturday July 1st to Public Holiday Monday November 20th 2023
- The third experiential digital theater: Salvador Dali Endless Enigma from December 20th 2023 until May 31st 2024.
- Immersive Monet from July 2024 to April 2025
- Ukiyo-e Reborn 2025 to spring 2026
These are just the exhibitions that previously featured on this blog. As these exhibitions are no longer live, they were removed from the blog. Last republish April 2025. Last update April 2026.
looks very cool indeed the style works in the ones youve shown us Lynda