Experience Keihanna Science City!
Keihanna Science City, officially known as Kansai Science City, spans Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara prefectures. Home to more than 150 facilities, including universities and corporate research institutes, the city has built up a strong foundation of advanced research and development.
As part of Keihanna Expo 2025, the Open Lab Tech Tour was held for a wide range of participants, from elementary school students to business professionals and the general public. The program offered opportunities to visit and experience a variety of sites, including cutting-edge research facilities and manufacturing companies that are usually closed to the public, as well as a hands-on tea field experience in Wazuka Town, creating a program designed to spark curiosity and inspire learning.
The Open Lab Tech Tour gave participants the chance to enjoy learning at sites where theory and practice come together, while also connecting and exchanging ideas with one another.
Various locations in Keihanna Science City and Wazuka Town
Highlights from the 2024 Open Lab Tech Tour
Events Held
10:00 AM-
Open Lab
New Japan Chemical Co., Ltd.
Kyoto R&D Center
Location: 1-5-4 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto Prefecture
Approx. 5-minute walk from the “ATR” bus stop on the Nara Kotsu Bus line
Company overview presentation and tour of the R&D Center.
National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology
Kansai Institute for Photon Science
Location: 8-1-7 Umemidai, Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture
Get off at the “Kansai Institute for Photon Science” bus stop on the Nara Kotsu Bus line
Lecture on world-class laser systems and a tour of the facility. A hands-on workshop using the mysterious properties of light was also held.
Toray Construction Co., Ltd.
Kyotanabe Cross Park
Location: 7-3 Kodo Komozume, Kyotanabe City, Kyoto Prefecture
Get off at the “Tanabe Junior High School” bus stop on the Nara Kotsu Bus line
Hands-on cultivation and harvesting experience at Torefarm, an elevated sand-based cultivation facility. Participants were able to take home some of the harvested vegetables, and smoothies were served.
Wazuka Town: “Terrace Wazuka”
Location: 35 Ohasama, Shirasu, Wazuka-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto Prefecture
ea Picking Experience and Workshop on How to Brew Delicious Tea
Participants picked tea leaves in the tea fields while listening to explanations from a guide. They were able to take home the tea leaves they picked. An instructor also gave a lesson on how to brew delicious tea.
Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE)
Location: 9-2 Kizugawadai, Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture
Approx. 10-minute walk from the “Keihanna Memorial Park” bus stop on the Nara Kotsu Bus line
1.Tour of the DAC Experimental Building, a facility for testing DAC (Direct Air Capture) technology, which directly captures CO₂ from the atmosphere.
2.Tour of the Carbon Capture Technology Evaluation Center, a facility equipped with a city gas boiler and CO₂ separation and capture testing equipment, where various CO₂ separation materials are evaluated using boiler flue gas.
OMRON Corporation
Keihanna Innovation Center
Location: 9-1 Kizugawadai, Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture
Approx. 7-minute walk from the “Keihanna Memorial Park” bus stop on the Nara Kotsu Bus line
Participants toured OMRON’s core R&D facility. On the day of the tour, they experienced OMRON’s latest research and development based on its core technology, “Sensing & Control + Think,” through live demonstrations.
Shimadzu Corporation, Technology Research Laboratory
Mirai Co-Creation Lab
Location: 3-9-4 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto Prefecture
Approx. 5-minute walk from the “Hikaridai 7-chome” bus stop on the Nara Kotsu Bus line
After listening to an introduction to the company, participants made a paper craft spectroscope modeled after the Hisaki planetary spectroscopic satellite. They also toured the Mirai Co-Creation Lab.
ACS Corporation
ACS Solution Center
Location: 2-2-1 Shiroyamadai, Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture
15-minute walk from JR Kizu Station
Participants experienced programming a collaborative robot designed to work alongside people in manufacturing settings. They also toured the ACS Solution Center facility.
Sekisui House, Ltd.
Comprehensive Housing R&D Institute JUNOPARK
Location: 6-6-4 Kabutodai, Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture
Approx. 15-minute walk from Takanohara Station on the Kintetsu Line
Parking: 3-1-2 Saganakadai, Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture
Approx. 5-minute walk from JUNOPARK
Participants from government agencies, municipalities, educational institutions, support organizations, high schools, universities, and other organizations toured the new facility. After learning about the facility’s concept, they explored possibilities for various forms of collaboration.
Kyoeiseicha Co., Ltd.
Location: 8-1-2 Umemidai, Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture
Participants learned about the matcha production process from the observation passage. They also entered the inspection room, where they received an explanation of the testing conducted on tea products. The program also included a hands-on stone mill grinding experience and tastings of matcha products.
KIDS Photon Science Museum
Location: 8-1-6 Umemidai, Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture
Science experiment show, hands-on museum activities including a planetarium program, and a craft workshop.
RIKEN
Location: 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto Prefecture,Located inside ATR
Participants experienced interacting with robots.
Tech Tour
Exploring the Front Lines of New Business
At the forefront of innovation in Science City, companies are taking on social challenges through new ideas and technologies.
This tour offered participants the chance to see, hear, and experience firsthand the sites where startups are working on PoC projects that could help shape the future.
The tour brought new discoveries to a wide range of participants, including students, homemakers, and those considering starting their own businesses.
Conditioning Lab
Suntory Wellness Ltd.
AI analyzes posture characteristics based on images of the soles of the feet.
SG-AITek
Various vital signs are measured based on facial images.
Keihanna Open Innovation Center
KICK / Keihanna Robotics Engineering Center
次A shared-use facility for the development and demonstration testing of next-generation robots and related technologies.
Keihanna Plaza Laboratory Wing
PITTAN
Estimates frailty status based on sweat condition.
けいはんなプラザ
AltumView
Detects potentially dangerous behavior from video footage of human movement.
OVA Inc.
Offers an immersive VR experience of the production process for premium tea leaves.
Participating Organizations
- OMRON Corporation
- Kyoeiseicha Co., Ltd.
- Halle Game Lab Inc.
- MIRATORIE
- National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology
- International Professional University of Technology in Tokyo
- Yuzu Plus Co., Ltd.
- New Japan Chemical Co., Ltd.
- eSep Inc.
- RIKEN
- Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International
- Toray Construction Co., Ltd.
- ACS Corporation
- Fukujuen Co., Ltd.
- Sekisui House, Ltd.
- Ace Japan Co., Ltd.
- Kyoto Prefecture
- Osaka Prefecture
- Wazuka Town
- Keihanna Co., Ltd.
- Kansai Research Institute
*In no particular order