The name is Yui Rail (Monorail) Museum, but don't let that fool you! The two-story museum is packed with 400 different items on display, some of the construction of the monorail to even the old railways in Okinawa. It's free to enter, open Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and something to do on a rainy day in Okinawa.
You can access it by following the map in the "location" box below, but the parking lot is somewhat confusing to know exactly which building it is. Follow the side of the gray building (pictured) and you will see a sign leading you to a double glass door where you can enter.
Once inside, you'll notice a suggestion book, but more importantly, a telephone.
Underneath the phone in showcases is some merchandise you can pick up for a few yen. If you're looking to buy a monorail postcard, key chain, or even cute little socks for your kids, you'll need to get on the phone and dial 224.
Once you enter, you'll see the main exhibition of all the monorail stations, which they'll soon have to make room for four more after the expansion is complete.
Around the corner from the monorail station exhibition is a scale model of a fictitious monorail route. Unfortunately, when we went, it didn't work. Hopefully, they restore it at one point because I'm sure kids would enjoy "racing" the monorails around.
P1-P9 are the piers in which the first monorail station, Naha Airport Station, now rests on. It's a marvel to look at such a huge construction project that took place.
The museum also boasts about Yui Rail having the most southern as well as the most western monorail stations in all of Japan, being Akamine Station and Naha Airport Station respectively—though, that could surely change with how rapidly Ishigaki and Miyako-jima are now growing in tourism too!
They also have a cutout of the monorail wheels on display which is nice to be able to physically touch and see how the monorail can stick to its rail.
Upstairs is where things get a little more interesting.
You're initially greeted by two large sections of steel rail. These rails were found in someone's garden just recently in 2010 and date back to the first rail system on Okinawa that suffered severe blows during the Battle of Okinawa.
There are also plenty of pictures that show the old rail stations and routes strewn about the walls.
If you're a train enthusiast, you're going to absolutely love the collection of train memorabilia and relics from real trains throughout Japan.
But, before you take off, don't forget your monorail paper craft; I'm sure if you bring your kids along, they'll enjoy making a model monorail of their own.
Have fun while you're here in Okinawa and make a day of your visit to the Yui Rail Museum by walking your way down to Naha Airport Station and getting an all day monorail pass afterward. You can use this to ride the rails to Shuri Castle and back to knock that off your Okinawa bucket list!
You can access it by following the map in the "location" box below, but the parking lot is somewhat confusing to know exactly which building it is. Follow the side of the gray building (pictured) and you will see a sign leading you to a double glass door where you can enter.
Once inside, you'll notice a suggestion book, but more importantly, a telephone.
Underneath the phone in showcases is some merchandise you can pick up for a few yen. If you're looking to buy a monorail postcard, key chain, or even cute little socks for your kids, you'll need to get on the phone and dial 224.
Once you enter, you'll see the main exhibition of all the monorail stations, which they'll soon have to make room for four more after the expansion is complete.
Around the corner from the monorail station exhibition is a scale model of a fictitious monorail route. Unfortunately, when we went, it didn't work. Hopefully, they restore it at one point because I'm sure kids would enjoy "racing" the monorails around.
P1-P9 are the piers in which the first monorail station, Naha Airport Station, now rests on. It's a marvel to look at such a huge construction project that took place.
The museum also boasts about Yui Rail having the most southern as well as the most western monorail stations in all of Japan, being Akamine Station and Naha Airport Station respectively—though, that could surely change with how rapidly Ishigaki and Miyako-jima are now growing in tourism too!
They also have a cutout of the monorail wheels on display which is nice to be able to physically touch and see how the monorail can stick to its rail.
Upstairs is where things get a little more interesting.
You're initially greeted by two large sections of steel rail. These rails were found in someone's garden just recently in 2010 and date back to the first rail system on Okinawa that suffered severe blows during the Battle of Okinawa.
There are also plenty of pictures that show the old rail stations and routes strewn about the walls.
If you're a train enthusiast, you're going to absolutely love the collection of train memorabilia and relics from real trains throughout Japan.
But, before you take off, don't forget your monorail paper craft; I'm sure if you bring your kids along, they'll enjoy making a model monorail of their own.
Have fun while you're here in Okinawa and make a day of your visit to the Yui Rail Museum by walking your way down to Naha Airport Station and getting an all day monorail pass afterward. You can use this to ride the rails to Shuri Castle and back to knock that off your Okinawa bucket list!
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