Of the many company showrooms around town, this one, near Odaiba, is one of the best. Not only does it display Panasonic's newest products, from HD camcorders to the world's largest plasma TV, it also addresses environmental issues (from recycling to energy conservation) and how products are evolving to assist Japan's elderly and disabled. You can play the latest Nintendo games, learn about self-cleaning air-conditioners, and see for yourself why tilted drums in washing machines are easier to access. Although there's plenty to see for free, visitors with kids or time on their hands might also want to take in RiSuPia, a hands-on science and mathematics museum where you can play air hockey hitting only prime numbers; learn about probability with the roll of a dice; "paint" a picture using only red, green, and blue; and arrange pillows to complete an abstract puzzle. But this is the coolest of all: the Eco & Ud House, a house of the future designed for four people (parents, child, and grandmother) and incorporating all the latest smart and energy-efficient products, from top shelves in the kitchen that can be pulled out and lowered, to a plasma TV that doubles as a home system, monitoring everything from the house's energy consumption to the child as she walks to school. One-hour free tours of the house (make reservations 1 month in advance) allow you to see or test the function of everything -- you can even lie down in the sleep-inducing bedroom if you wish.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Tokyo, 10th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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