Mega Web

AomiJapan 35° N · 139° E Verified Aug 2026

Mega Web drew 127 million visitors to test-drive Toyotas, explore a retro History Garage, and watch F1 demos before closing in 2021 for TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO.

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Mega Web Photo: Mytho88 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Entry
Free

Exactly 127 million people—roughly the population of Japan itself—passed through Mega Web in Aomi, Japan before the last checkered flag fell on New Year's Eve 2021. Most came to test-drive a prototype Corolla or watch a Formula One car scream down a 1.4-kilometer strip of reclaimed land. The building is gone now. The reason to visit is the strange afterlife of a car theme park that was never meant to last.

The park stood inside Palette Town, a pastel shopping complex on the artificial island of Odaiba, and billed itself as a car theme park to see, ride, and feel. Visitors wandered through Toyota City Showcase, watched mechanics rebuild 1960s sports cars behind glass, and then drove hybrid prototypes around an outdoor circuit with the smell of Tokyo Bay in the air.

The real twist: Mega Web was built as a temporary tenant on land leased from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government under a 10-year permit. It outlived its demolition date by more than a decade because a global financial crisis froze redevelopment plans. Today the footprint is being reshaped into Toyota Arena Tokyo, but the reason the site exists at all begins with a politician who canceled an expo.

Part of the old track reopened in 2023 as City Circuit Tokyo Bay, an electric karting strip. If you go, ride it slow. You are driving on the residue of one of Tokyo's best accidents.

Researched by the Audiala editorial team from historical records, architectural archives, and local expertise.

What to see

  1. Toyota City Showcase & Ride One

    Mega Web was never built to last. A 10-year land lease was meant to end in 2010, but the park kept going for 22 years before closing on December 31, 2021. Inside, 140 to 170 Toyotas sat with doors open; for ¥300, you could drive the 1.3-km Ride One loop under the 115-metre Daikanransha wheel. What a bargain.

  2. History Garage

    History Garage felt more like a theatrical backlot than a car museum. The second floor shifted from a 1950s Route 66 streetscape to a European piazza, where a Ferrari Dino 246 GTS and a Fiat 500 sat on painted cobblestones under warm streetlamps. Sharp eyes found the export-spec left-hand-drive Toyota 2000GT—one of 337—before heading downstairs, where takumi master mechanics in the Restor Pit rebuilt classics behind waist-high glass and the air smelled of mineral oil, carnauba wax, and espresso.

  3. Walk: From Asphalt Seams to the Arena Site

    Walk the site now and you'll find the old threshold where VenusFort's marble gave way to asphalt with tire treads pressed into it. Follow the ghost of Ride One along the waterfront, under the Ferris wheel that still lights the bay at dusk, to the fence line of the next act: Toyota Arena Tokyo, rising for autumn 2025. It's a strange, satisfying walk—you measure what a free car theme park did for Odaiba and how quickly 22 years vanished.

Plan your visit

Getting There
The former Mega Web lot sits at Aomi 1-chome, now occupied by TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO and CITY CIRCUIT TOKYO BAY. Take the Yurikamome to Aomi Station (about 22 minutes, ¥390 from Shimbashi) or the Rinkai Line to Tokyo Teleport Station, then walk 4–5 minutes across Yume no Hiroba. Don't get off at Daiba; that adds a long elevated walk.
Opening Hours / Status
Mega Web itself closed permanently on December 31, 2021, and the pavilions were demolished in 2022. As of 2026, the site hosts TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO (event-dependent hours) and CITY CIRCUIT TOKYO BAY (Mon–Thu 12:00–20:00, Fri–Sun and holidays 12:00–22:00). No Mega Web admissions remain.
Time Needed
For the original Mega Web, a quick showroom browse ran 45–60 minutes; a full visit with Ride One and History Garage took 2.5–3.5 hours. Today, budget 1–1.5 hours for EV karting at City Circuit Tokyo Bay, or 2.5–3.5 hours if you're attending a basketball game or concert at Toyota Arena Tokyo.
Accessibility
The Odaiba waterfront is flat, reclaimed land with wide, step-free promenades. Aomi and Tokyo Teleport stations both have elevators, and the replacement venues offer barrier-free restrooms and wheelchair-accessible seating. City Circuit Tokyo Bay requires closed-toe shoes for drivers, but the surrounding grounds are level and easy to cross.
Cost & Tickets
Original Mega Web entry was free; paid add-ons included a ¥300 Ride One test drive (two laps) and ¥200–¥300 children's driving sessions. As of 2026, City Circuit Tokyo Bay runs roughly ¥2,500–¥4,000 per kart session, while Toyota Arena Tokyo tickets vary by event.

History

The Temporary Kingdom

From the day it opened on March 19, 1999, Mega Web was an act of official improvisation. The reclaimed island it occupied had been meant for a grand world's fair, then became a stranded stretch of landfill when that fair was canceled. A 10-year temporary land lease gave Toyota and Mori Building permission to build a showcase, not a monument.

The continuity here is less architectural than situational: this stretch of Aomi has repeatedly been handed a short-term identity and told to entertain. First as an expo site, then as a car park, now as a sports arena. The ground beneath keeps changing hands. The public keeps arriving.

The turning point

The Governor Who Killed the Expo and Built a Car Park

Yukio Aoshima won the Tokyo governorship in 1995 on a single loud promise: cancel the World City Exposition Tokyo '96, the centerpiece of the city's waterfront redevelopment plan. Records show the assembly voted 100 to 23 to proceed. Coffers had already swallowed billions of yen. On May 31, 1995, Aoshima went ahead and killed it anyway.

For Aoshima, a novelist and TV satirist, the stakes were his entire political identity. He had run as an anti-establishment populist, and backing down would have gutted him before his first year was out. The cancellation left newly built rail lines and reclaimed land with no purpose.

The turning point came not in the assembly but in the vacuum left behind. Tokyo's government, desperate to attract people to the empty bay, offered discounted 10-year provisional leases. Toyota and Mori Building took one. On March 19, 1999, Mega Web opened on the exact terrain that was supposed to host the expo. A politician's refusal to build a fair accidentally built a car park for 127 million people.

What Changed

The site has shape-shifted from landfill to expo ground to car theme park to karting track. According to a single-source report, demolition of the original Mega Web buildings began in April 2022, and by November 2023 part of the old footprint had become City Circuit Tokyo Bay. Toyota Arena Tokyo is projected to open in autumn 2025, bringing professional basketball to the same reclaimed dirt where Corollas once lapped.

What Endured

The promise of motion. For 22 years and 9 months, the space existed so ordinary people could sit behind a wheel and feel something. That ritual continues in smaller form on the electric karting circuit, and the neighboring Ferris wheel still turns over Palette Town. The view across Tokyo Bay, the salt air, the sudden openness of reclaimed land—all of it was there before Mega Web and remains after it.

Tips for visitors

  • Ignore outdated guides

    If a guidebook or blog still lists Mega Web as open, it's stale — the pavilions were demolished in 2022. Set your map for TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO or CITY CIRCUIT TOKYO BAY on the same Aomi 1-chome footprint.

  • Vet your camera kit

    Save the telephoto and tripod for street shots; at Toyota Arena, B.League rules block flash, tripods, and pro telephoto gear during games. Public plazas around Yume no Hiroba are fine for personal stills.

  • Eat at Aqua City

    Walk five minutes to Aqua City Odaiba and try Tokyo Ramen Kokugikan Mai (¥1,000–¥1,500) for regional ramen masters. DiverCity's second-floor food court is faster and cheaper if you're heading to the Rinkai Line.

  • Aim for weekday afternoons

    Go to City Circuit on a weekday afternoon (12:00–17:00) when off-peak kart rates are lower and you're not fighting after-buzzer crowds. On Alvark Tokyo home game days, Aomi Station gets packed after the final whistle.

  • Don't buy Mega Web tickets

    No amount of yen gets you into a demolished building. Spend it on a kart session instead, or check arena event-day packages that bundle transit and seat upgrades.

  • Avoid Daiba Station

    Get off at Aomi on the Yurikamome, not Daiba; Daiba adds a windy 15-minute deck walk to the arena site. From Tokyo Teleport, leave through the Yume no Hiroba exit and cross the promenade, not the north stairs.

Frequently asked

Is Mega Web still open?

No — Mega Web closed permanently on December 31, 2021, after 22 years and 127 million visitors. Demolition started in April 2022, and the site now holds Toyota Arena Tokyo and City Circuit Tokyo Bay.

What replaced Mega Web in Odaiba?

Toyota Arena Tokyo, a roughly 10,000-seat sports and entertainment arena, opened on the former Mega Web footprint in autumn 2025. Part of the grounds also became City Circuit Tokyo Bay, an indoor-outdoor EV karting track that opened in November 2023.

How do I get to Mega Web?

You can't visit Mega Web itself, but its former Aomi site is served by Aomi Station on the Yurikamome Line and Tokyo Teleport Station on the Rinkai Line. From Shimbashi, the Yurikamome takes about 20–22 minutes and costs ¥390.

Can you visit Mega Web for free?

Mega Web no longer exists, but during its run general admission to all pavilions was free. Paid extras included Ride One test drives at ¥300 for two laps and children's Ride Studio sessions at ¥200–¥300.

What should I not miss at Mega Web?

The History Garage was the part you'd regret skipping — a two-story retro streetscape with vintage Corvettes, a Ferrari Dino 246 GTS, and a 1967 Toyota 2000GT. Its glass-fronted Restor Pit let you watch Toyota master mechanics rebuild classic cars in real time.

How long do you need at Mega Web?

Mega Web is closed, but visitors used to need 45–60 minutes for a quick walkthrough and 2.5–3.5 hours for a thorough visit with test drives, simulators, and the History Garage. Today, allow 1–1.5 hours for City Circuit Tokyo Bay or 2.5–3.5 hours for a Toyota Arena Tokyo event.

Sources & attribution 7

Researched and written by the Audiala editorial team from historical records, architectural archives, and local expertise. Last reviewed August 2026.

Built from cited sources · see the method · How we make our guides →

Photo credits (10)
  1. MEGAWEB 02 — Mytho88 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MEGAWEB_02.jpg
  2. MEGAWEB 03 — Mytho88 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MEGAWEB_03.jpg
  3. LEXUS (2558800236) — MIKI Yoshihito from Sapporo City,Hokkaido., JAPAN — CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LEXUS_(2558800236).jpg
  4. Interoir of Toyota MegaWeb — SElephant — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interoir_of_Toyota_MegaWeb.jpg
  5. MEGAWEB 05 — Mytho88 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MEGAWEB_05.jpg
  6. MEGAWEB 07 — Mytho88 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MEGAWEB_07.jpg
  7. MEGAWEB 08 — Mytho88 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MEGAWEB_08.jpg
  8. MEGAWEB 10 — Mytho88 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MEGAWEB_10.jpg
  9. Megaweb 2013 — Wpcpey — CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Megaweb_2013.JPG
  10. MEGAWEB 01 — Mytho88 — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MEGAWEB_01.jpg

Photos may have been resized or cropped.