:Hara Model Railway Museum

File:Hara Model Railway Museum Ichiban Tetsumo Park 20140325.jpg

Approximately 1,000 items from Hara's private collection of more than 6,000 model railway items are on display.{{cite web |url= http://ajw.asahi.com/article/cool_japan/fun_spots/AJ201207030008 |title= Model train museum shows off huge diorama |date= 3 July 2012 |work= Asia & Japan Watch |publisher= The Asahi Shimbun Company |location= Japan |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120709021536/http://ajw.asahi.com/article/cool_japan/fun_spots/AJ201207030008 |archive-date= 2012-07-09 |access-date= 10 July 2012 |url-status= dead |df= }} The centrepiece of the museum is a 30-metre x 10 metre diorama called {{Nihongo|"Ichiban Tetsumo Park"|いちばんテツモパーク}} which features "1 gauge" (45 mm gauge) model trains from around the world, and has approximately 450 metres of track. The layout features working overhead lines to power trains via their pantographs.{{cite magazine| last = Ikeguchi| first = Eiji| title = 原鉄道模型博物館|trans-title=Hara Model Railway Museum|magazine=Japan Railfan Magazine | volume = 52| issue = 617|pages=130–133| publisher = Kōyūsha Co., Ltd.| location = Japan |date = September 2012}} The collection also includes the original models of Thomas the Tank Engine and several of the other characters from the production of Thomas & Friends prior to 2009 when the show was switched to CGI animation,{{Cite news|last1=Berman|first1=John|last2=Milberger|first2=Michael|date=September 13, 2009|title=Thomas the Tank Engine Speaks|url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/thomas-tank-engine-finds-voice-time/story?id=8541104|work=Good Morning America|publisher=ABC News|accessdate=September 28, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628192149/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/thomas-tank-engine-finds-voice-time/story?id=8541104|archivedate=June 28, 2015}} some of which occasionally operate on the layout.{{cite web |url=http://blog.thomasandfriends.jp/3368|script-title=ja:横浜市の原鉄道模型博物館で「きかんしゃトーマススペシャルギャラリー」開催 |trans-title="Thomas the Tank Engine Special Gallery" held at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Yokohama |date=13 April 2018 |work=Thomas & Friends |publisher=HIT Entertainment |location= Japan|language= Japanese|accessdate= 28 September 2019}}{{cite web |url=http://blog.thomasandfriends.jp/3580|script-title=ja:原鉄道模型博物館「きかんしゃトーマス スペシャルギャラリー in Summer」開催のお知らせ |trans-title=Announcement of Hara Railway Model Museum "Thomas the Tank Engine Special Gallery in Summer" |date=4 July 2018 |work=Thomas & Friends |publisher=HIT Entertainment |location= Japan|language= Japanese|accessdate= 28 September 2019}}

Exhibits on display include models in 1 gauge (45 mm gauge, 1/32 scale), 0 gauge, and H0 gauge.

The museum was unveiled to the news media on 20 June 2012 ahead of its public opening on 10 July.{{cite web|url= http://mainichi.jp/english/english/features/news/20120624p2a00m0na005000c.html|title= Railway museum featuring one of world's biggest dioramas to open in Yokohama|date= 24 June 2012|work= Mainichi jp|publisher= The Mainichi Newspapers|location= Japan|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130218225200/http://mainichi.jp/english/english/features/news/20120624p2a00m0na005000c.html|archive-date= 2013-02-18|access-date= 10 July 2012|url-status= dead|df= }}

The owner of the collection, Nobutaro Hara, was born in Tokyo on 4 April 1919, and built his first model train at the age of 13. He studied mechanical engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.{{cite web|url= http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/people/AJ201207240008|last= Orii|first= Yuka|title= Full steam ahead for 93-year-old model train builder|date= 24 July 2012|work= Asia & Japan Watch|publisher= The Asahi Shimbun Company|location= Japan|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120725061855/http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/people/AJ201207240008|archive-date= 2012-07-25|access-date= 26 July 2012|url-status= dead|df= }} After World War II, Hara worked as a development engineer for the office equipment company {{Interlanguage link multi|Kokuyo|ja|3=コクヨ}}. In his spare time, he continued to build and collect model trains, travelling to some 380 (?) different countries and building up a collection of over 6,000 items. Over the years, he received a number of invitations from museums to exhibit his models, but always refused. He finally agreed to lend part of his collection to Mitsui Fudosan because the museum was located in Yokohama, the terminal of Japan's first railway, from Shimbashi in Tokyo. Hara died on 5 July 2014 at the age of 95.{{cite web |url=http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASG7763Y1G77UTIL03G.html |script-title=ja:原信太郎さん死去　鉄道模型製作・収集６千両 |trans-title=Model railway builder and collector Nobutaro Hara dies |date=7 July 2014 |work= Asahi Shimbun Digital |publisher=The Asahi Shimbun Company |location= Japan|language= Japanese|accessdate= 7 July 2014}}

The museum is located on the second floor of the Yokohama Mitsui Building in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, and is a two-minute walk from Shin-Takashima Station on the Minatomirai Line, and a five-minute walk from Yokohama Station.

1-1-2 Takashima, Nishi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken

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• {{Official website|http://www.hara-mrm.com}} {{in lang|ja}}

{{Mitsui Fudosan|state=autocollapse}}

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Category:Museums established in 2012

Category:Museums in Yokohama

Category:Railway museums in Japan

Category:2012 establishments in Japan

Category:Mitsui Fudosan