Managed by Mitsui Fudosan, the museum houses the extensive collection of model trains built and amassed by the Japanese model railway enthusiast Nobutaro Hara (原 信太郎, Hara Nobutarō).

[4] The museum was unveiled to the news media on 20 June 2012 ahead of its public opening on 10 July.

[8] The owner of the collection, Nobutaro Hara, was born in Tokyo on 4 April 1919,[2] and built his first model train at the age of 13.

[9] After World War II, Hara worked as a development engineer for the office equipment company Kokuyo [ja].

He finally agreed to lend part of his collection to Mitsui Fudosan because the museum was located in Yokohama, the terminal of Japan's first railway, from Shimbashi in Tokyo.