Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture is a city of musical instruments that houses over 200 companies that are in the musical instrument industry, and Yamaha is one of them. We visited Yamaha’s corporate museum called Innovation Road, so we would like to share with you its charm in two installments. As the name suggests, Innovation Road showcases a wide variety of about 800 pieces of products that Yamaha has released since its foundation in 1887, such as those which brought innovation to the history of musical instruments, as well as its latest musical instruments and equipment. It is a corporate museum where you can experience Yamaha not only by seeing, but also by hearing and touching.

As you step inside the premises, you’ll see a crosswalk with the design of a keyboard, as well as a piano pedal used as a sanitizer dispenser pedal. These playful features, which have been created with the unique perspective of a musical instrument manufacturer, really heighten the excitement.

The keyboard crossing, the sanitizer stand with a piano pedal, and more—they are all photo-worthy!

Now, let’s walk through the entrance door and go inside Innovation Road to experience Yamaha’s world. You need a reservation to go inside the museum, so make sure to make a reservation in advance.

A mother polar bear and her cub greet you at the entrance. Incidentally, they are not a stuffed bear, but a polar bear made by a craftsman.

《Musical instruments exhibit area & Guitar Area》 The view of a whole variety of musical instruments, such as pianos, guitars, drums, wind instruments, string instruments, and percussion instruments, lined up in these two large areas is just amazing. You can freely touch and play these instruments in these areas, so you don’t have to feel intimidated even if you are not someone who plays musical instruments on a daily basis. The museum is also particular about the way the instruments are exhibited. For example, the wind instruments are arranged in the same way as for actual wind ensembles.

Believe it or not, here you can also freely play CFX, Yamaha’s flagship full concert grand piano that costs over 20 million yen.

Feeling like a professional musician, surrounded by synthesizers?

The guitar area exhibits everything from acoustic guitars to electric guitars and basses.

You can also try out the silent cello.

There is also a wide array of wind and percussion instruments—you can form an entire wind ensemble just with Yamaha’s musical instruments.

《Sound Solution Display Area》 Yamaha's products are not limited to musical instruments, but also extend to the audio equipment and network equipment used to deliver the sound created by musical instruments to people. This is a rare opportunity to see the products that are used behind the scenes in recording and concerts. The darkened lighting, which matches the environment in which the products are actually used, also adds to the realism of the exhibition.

The mixing consoles, including the PM4000-40C (left) and the RIVERGE PM10 (right), showcase new and old representative models.

(Left) Equipment supporting DTM is also displayed by era. (Right) Visitors can experience mixing by actually operating a mixer and adjusting the sound.

That's it for the Part1. In the next issue, we will introduce the "History Walk," where you can trace Yamaha's history and the latest technologies that will bring about innovations in the future, so be sure to check it out!

■DATA YAMAHA Innovation Road Address: 10-1 Nakazawa-cho, Chuo-ku, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture Tour hours: 3 times a day (rotating), by appointment only, during the following hours 1) 10:00 - 12:00 2) 12:30-14:30 3) 14:45-16:45 *Up to one time per person per day (2 hours) Admission: Free Closed: Sundays, Mondays, etc. (Please check the museum calendar on the website.) TEL: 053-460-2010 Official website: https://www.yamaha.com/en/about/experience/innovation-road/ (Information as of February 2024) ＜Related articles＞ ・World’s first Fender flagship stores, Tokyo.