Exhibition Hall Introducing the History of SUBARU
Historic Cars, Prototypes, and Concept Vehicles
The first floor features an exhibition hall dedicated to SUBARU’s history and representative vehicles. Approximately 20 vehicles are displayed, ranging from famous production models to rare prototypes and concept cars.
One of the most popular exhibits is the Subaru 360, a small kei car first introduced in 1958. With its compact dimensions and innovative design for its time, the Subaru 360 became an important symbol of Japan’s early motorization and helped make car ownership accessible to a growing number of Japanese households.
The collection also includes the Subaru 1000, SUBARU’s first mass-produced passenger car, as well as the Subaru 1500, an early prototype developed during the company’s expansion into passenger cars.
Other exhibits include export models that were not sold in Japan and concept cars displayed at Japanese motor shows. These rare vehicles provide visitors with an opportunity to see designs and models that are difficult to encounter elsewhere.
See the Cars from Every Angle
Many of the vehicles are displayed directly on the exhibition floor rather than behind barriers or inside enclosed cases. Visitors can walk around them and examine their details from different angles.
This open display style makes it possible to appreciate design features that are often difficult to see in a conventional automobile museum, making the exhibition particularly appealing to car enthusiasts.
SUBARU’s Distinctive Engineering and Safety Technologies
Horizontally Opposed Engines and Symmetrical AWD
The second floor introduces some of SUBARU’s most distinctive engineering technologies through displays such as the Safety Technology Gallery and SUBARU Gallery.
Among the technologies highlighted are SUBARU’s horizontally opposed engine, in which the cylinders face each other across the engine block, and Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive (AWD), a four-wheel-drive system arranged around a symmetrical drivetrain layout.
These technologies have become closely associated with SUBARU’s approach to vehicle performance, stability, and control.
EyeSight and Advanced Driver Assistance
The museum also introduces SUBARU’s EyeSight driver-assistance technology and other safety systems.
Cutaway components and explanatory panels help visitors understand how the systems work. The exhibits also introduce SUBARU’s long-standing focus on vehicle safety and its efforts to address environmental and technological challenges.
Seeing the Development Process
The center also preserves materials that reveal the development process behind SUBARU vehicles. Among them is a full-scale plaster design model used during the development of the Subaru 360.
Displays of engines from different generations provide another way to follow the evolution of SUBARU’s engineering technology and understand how the company’s vehicles have developed over the decades.
SUBARU’s Roots in the Aviation Industry
From Nakajima Aircraft to SUBARU
SUBARU’s history extends beyond automobiles. One of the company’s important predecessors was Nakajima Aircraft Company, one of Japan’s major aircraft manufacturers before and during World War II.
The visitor center introduces this aviation heritage through models and historical materials. Among the displays are models of the Nakajima Ki-84 “Hayate”, a fighter aircraft produced during World War II, and the Type 90 Carrier-Based Fighter Type 3.
The T-1 “Hatsutaka” Jet Trainer
Outside the building is a T-1 jet trainer, nicknamed “Hatsutaka”. The aircraft was Japan’s first domestically developed postwar jet trainer and is an impressive reminder of the company’s long involvement in aerospace engineering.
SUBARU continues to operate an aerospace business today, producing aircraft structures and components. The aviation exhibits therefore demonstrate that SUBARU’s technological heritage extends beyond automobile manufacturing into the broader field of aerospace engineering.
Behind the Scenes of Automobile Manufacturing
Factory Tours at the Yajima Plant
One of the major attractions of the SUBARU Visitor Center is the opportunity to tour the Yajima Plant, where SUBARU vehicles are manufactured.
The factory tour is conducted with a dedicated guide and takes approximately one hour and 45 minutes. Visitors can observe several major stages of automobile production, from forming sheets of steel to assembling the finished vehicle.
Pressing, Body Assembly, and Final Assembly
The tour includes the pressing process, in which huge sheets of steel are shaped into vehicle components, followed by the body welding and assembly process, where robots join the components to create the vehicle body.
Visitors can then observe the final assembly process, where vehicles receive their remaining components and are completed for shipment.
The visitor walkway is located above the main factory floor, allowing guests to safely look across the expansive production area and watch vehicles being assembled in sequence.
Experience the Factory with Virtual Reality
The facility also offers a virtual factory tour using VR technology. This provides an immersive way to experience production processes and areas that visitors cannot normally access during the standard factory tour.
The Yajima Plant has produced major SUBARU models including the Legacy Outback, Impreza, Crosstrek, and Forester, which are shipped not only throughout Japan but also to markets around the world.
How to Visit the SUBARU Visitor Center
Reservations Are Required
Visits to the SUBARU Visitor Center are available by advance reservation. Admission is free, but reservations must be made in advance.
General visitors make reservations by telephone, while elementary school groups and other school excursions can make arrangements through the official SUBARU website.
Visitor Center and Factory Tour
A typical visit begins with an introductory video and exhibition tour at the visitor center, followed by the factory tour at the Yajima Plant.
The visitor center is not generally offered as a separate standalone tour; the exhibition visit forms part of the factory-tour experience.
Photography is permitted inside the visitor center. However, photography is prohibited inside the factory in order to protect confidential manufacturing information.
Access
By Public Transportation
From Ota Station on the Tobu Isesaki Line, the visitor center is approximately 20 minutes by car.
Alternatively, from the south exit of Ota Station, take a local bus bound for Kumagaya Station North Exit. Get off at the Mariere Ota-mae bus stop and walk approximately 10 minutes.
From Kumagaya Station, served by JR and the Chichibu Main Line, the visitor center is approximately 40 minutes by car.
By Car
Approximate driving times to the SUBARU Visitor Center are:
Ota-Kiryu Interchange, Kita-Kanto Expressway: approximately 30 minutes.
Tatebayashi Interchange, Tohoku Expressway: approximately 40 minutes.
Higashi-Matsuyama Interchange, Kan-Etsu Expressway: approximately 1 hour.
A Leading Industrial Tourism Destination in Ota
The SUBARU Visitor Center offers much more than a display of historic automobiles. It provides an opportunity to learn about SUBARU’s history, engineering philosophy, safety technologies, and aviation heritage while also observing the actual manufacturing process at one of the company’s major production plants.
Ota City has long been closely associated with Japan’s automobile industry, and SUBARU has played an important role in the city’s industrial development and local economy.
For this reason, the visitor center is an important example of industrial tourism in Ota. It appeals not only to automobile enthusiasts but also to travelers interested in engineering, manufacturing, Japanese industrial history, and the technologies behind modern vehicles.
Discover the Technology Behind SUBARU
A visit to the SUBARU Visitor Center provides an unusual opportunity to see both the heritage and the technology behind one of Japan’s best-known automobile manufacturers.
From the historic Subaru 360 and early prototypes to horizontally opposed engines, Symmetrical AWD, EyeSight, aircraft technology, and the modern automobile production line, the exhibits tell the story of how SUBARU’s engineering capabilities have developed over time.
For travelers visiting Ota City, especially those interested in cars, technology, manufacturing, aviation, and Japanese industrial culture, the visitor center offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the world of SUBARU.