Risūpia

The ‘ri’ stands for rika (science), the ‘sū’ for sūgaku (mathematics) and the ‘pia’ is short for ‘utopia’, and if that seems a contradiction, it won’t after you visit this nifty museum. RiSūPia is operated by Panasonic on two floors of its Odaiba showroom building. The 1st floor (no charge) is the Quest gallery, where principles of maths and science are illustrated through science museum-type exhibits; check out the RiSū Earth, a ‘glowing globe of knowledge’ that you spin to reveal important historical figures in science. It’s worth investing the ¥500 to go to the 3rd-floor Discovery Field, where game-style exhibits include playing ‘air hockey’ with prime numbers, trying to sort coloured foam balls in a hopper as the lighting colour changes, and assembling foam blocks into shapes before time runs out – which is more challenging than it looks. There are excellent explanations throughout in both Japanese and English. Note: RiSūPia can be crowded on weekends and holidays.