That Journey Continues: The Moving Galaxy Express 999 Exhibition at Kadokawa Musashino Museum

I am locomotive C62-48. Boiler pressure increase complete...

The engine room meters start up and the train begins to move... I came to the Kadokawa Musashino Museum in Tokorozawa, Saitama, because I wanted to see the immersive theater footage at the Galaxy Express 999 Exhibition, where you can relive the world of Galaxy Express 999, starting with that iconic departure scene.

This is what I wanted to see! After happening to see this YouTube video, I couldn't sit still, so I bought a ticket and went!

Anyway, it was absolutely amazing!

First, regarding the immersive theater footage, each session is 30 minutes long. It's a digest version of the Galaxy Express 999 film that you watch while standing in the immersive theater. You can watch this footage, which is screened every 40 minutes, as many times as you like until closing time. HAYA watched it three times, changing locations each time!

The immersive theater is quite spacious, and you can watch from wherever you like. I recommend watching from different spots a few times, as you get powerful visuals from the front and a 360-degree view of the whole scene from the back.

When you enter the theater, you are first on a platform. The 999 is in front of you, the 777 is to the side, and another train is stopped next to that. It really makes you feel like you've arrived at a platform and are about to board the 999.

By the way, the 777 is this train here. The 777 has such a futuristic and cool design, doesn't it? It looks like it would be very fast, but I recall that in terms of performance, the 999 was far superior, and the 777 wasn't actually that great despite its appearance.

Then, when the departure time arrives, the scene changes to the inside of the 999's engine room, the meters in that engine room start up with a rush, and it transitions into the 999's departure scene.

And honestly, this gave me goosebumps. Watching the footage, I got goosebumps for the first time in a while. It feels like I'm completely immersed in the world of 999 that I watched as a child! It's a huge shame that videos and photos are strictly prohibited, but it really is great!

Updated 2026/05/24

There was a video of the departure scene in another clip. It starts around 2 minutes and 40 seconds in.

From here, the story progresses in a digest format. It goes from the departure to Titan, then Pluto, meeting Queen Emeraldas, Tochiro, and Harlock, the battle at the Time Castle, the mechanized mother planet Maetel, and finally the last scene. The highlights are brilliantly packed into 30 minutes, and watching this digest reminded me of the content of the 999 movie I saw long ago.

Outside the theater, there is a passenger car, and when I stared blankly out the window, the 999 would come running by. Personally, I thought that since it's the view from the 999, wouldn't it be better if other trains were running by instead?

This is the footage from the train window.

This is the waiting area for entering the immersive theater.

This is the space after exiting the immersive theater.

In the immersive theater, Harlock and Emeraldas also appeared, but the Arcadia and the Queen Emeraldas in the footage were so cool that they almost overshadowed the 999.

Since they did Galaxy Express 999, I can't help but think they will definitely do Space Battleship Yamato in the same way eventually. If they were to broadcast Yamato in this immersive theater, it would likely be quite powerful as well.

By the way, I quite like 999, so I received this through my hometown tax donation a few years ago and still have it displayed in my room today.

Floating in the air! Galaxy Express 999 Floating Model / Hekinan City https://share.google/fMfqk3BEex73UaJGj

It's always swaying and floating thanks to magnets.