Applications for the Tokyo-3 residence permit program are now open at Small Worlds Tokyo.

Like many members of the SoraNews24 team, our ace reporter Mr. Sato lives in Tokyo. Later this month, though, he’ll be becoming not just a resident of Tokyo, but also of Tokyo-3.

But wait, isn’t Tokyo-3 the setting of the Evangelion anime series? It sure is, but making the move won’t require Mr. Sato to shift from the 3-D world to the 2-D one, but rather from the full-scale realm to the 1/80th-one.

Last month was the grand opening for Small Worlds Tokyo, a new indoor amusement park/museum in the city’s Ariake district. In somewhat of a contradiction, Small Worlds Tokyo houses gigantic miniature displays, such as a highly detailed replica of Osaka’s real-world Kansai International Airport.

But Small Worlds Tokyo also recreates a few fictional locations, and the two that drew Mr. Sato to the facility are Evangelion’s Tokyo-3 cityscape and the hanger where the Eva robots are housed.

If he’d just wanted to see them, he could have just bought an ordinary ticket. But what Mr. Sato really wants is to live in Tokyo-3, and luckily for him, Small Worlds Tokyo is offering just such an opportunity. If you sign up for the Residency Permit Figure Program, the staff will perform a full 3-D scan of your body, create and paint a 1:80-scale figure, and place the miniature you in the section of your choice within the facility for one year. You also get a one-year pass so you an come back and see yourself whenever you want to, a one-time guest pass so you can bring a friend to brag to on a subsequent visit, and an unpainted 1:35-scale figure of yourself to take home.

▼ Evangelion’s Shin Gora Station

While you don’t get to place the figure in the environment yourself, you do get to tell the staff which area you’d like to be in. The first choice Mr. Sato had to make was whether he wanted to be in the hanger or out on the streets of Tokyo-3, so first he performed an inspection of the Eva hanger, where Units 00, 01, and 02 were lined up and being prepped for their next battle against the invading Angel aliens.

▼ Technicians scurrying about at the feet of Shinji’s Unit-01…

▼ …and Gendo, Misato, and Ritsuko looking on from above!

▼ The elevator performing a test launch of Unit-01

Next it was time to head out into Tokyo-3, which boasts a scenic view of Mt. Fuji (since Tokyo-3 is actually located quite far away from actual Tokyo).

As Mr. Sato admired the craftsmanship, he realized the surroundings were gradually becoming darker. That’s because the Tokyo-3 area is set up on a day/night cycle, smoothly transitioning from afternoon to evening and back on through to the dawn. When the sun goes down, the skyscrapers come up, rising form their subterranean hiding places.

Some of the specific locations from the anime that are recreated include the school where Shinji and his fellow Eva pilots attend classes, and there’s also the Tokyo-3 branch of convenience store Lawson.

▼ Rei, proving once again that’s it’s not an anime school unless there are people hanging out on the roof.

▼ Kaworu demonstrating his ability to look suspicious no matter what he’s doing.

▼ Pet penguin Pen Pen pondering plunging into the school pool.

Being the father of an Angel himself, Mr. Sato has opted to live in the more peaceful environment of Tokyo-3, as opposed to the Eva hanger. You also get to select which general area you want your figure placed in, and he settled on the space in front of the convenience store, since Lawson’s store-brand Karaage-kun fried chicken really is quite tasty.


It takes two weeks from when your body scan is performed for your resident figure to be ready, so Mr. Sato will have to make a return trip once Mr. Mini Sato is moved in, which is part of the reason why the Residency Permit Figure Program includes an annual pass to Small Worlds Tokyo. At 19,800 yen (US$185) it’s a bit of a splurge, but still pretty cool if you’re a fan of Evangelion (or Sailor Moon, if you sign up for the residency program in the area dedicated to the magical girl series), and downright cheap compared to the human-size Eva Unit-01 statues that Small Worlds Tokyo is selling.

Related: Small Worlds Tokyo
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