Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum
Encyclopedia
The is a dinosaur
museum located in the city of Katsuyama
, Fukui Prefecture
, Japan
. In addition to being the only dedicated dinosaur museum in all of Japan, it is one of the "World's Three Great Dinosaur Museums" along with the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
in Canada
and the Zigong Dinosaur Museum
in China
. The museum signed a sister museum agreement with the Royal Tyrrell Museum on November 23, 2000, and contains some exhibits from the museum.
When visitors enter into the museum, they first take a long escalator down to the first floor of the basement. The basement only contains "Dino Street," a hallway displaying fossils of some of the earliest known life on Earth. A bone bed sits at the end of the hallway and is a replica of an actual site in Wyoming
, USA
.
From there, visitors can go up to the main exhibition hall, which is the museum's primary exhibition space and consists of dinosaur fossils. Though many of the dinosaur fossils are replicas, some displays use actual dinosaur fossils and visitors are allowed to touch some of the displays. Various diorama
s, including some with robotic dinosaurs that move and make sounds, also are used to show visitors a conceptual look at the dinosaurs' habitats.
The second floor contains exhibits focusing on earth sciences, including plate tectonics, rock formation and precious gems. The third floor focuses on the history of life, showing a timeline from the formation of the Earth up until modern times. In addition to the dinosaurs, this exhibit shows some of the earliest single-celled organisms and their evolution into the mammals of today.
The museum also contains a "Dino Lab," which has real fossils on display that visitors can feel and lift up. There is also a fossil cleaning room where visitors can watch actual fossils being cleaned and preserved.
There are also outdoor exhibits to complement the main ones inside the museum. From the spring to the fall, visitors can experience excavation activities at a location on the park grounds. Additional replicas of dinosaurs and their fossils can be found throughout the park grounds.
The location for the museum was chosen because many fossils have been found in Katsuyama and it uses many fossils found in the surrounding area. The museum was designed by Kisho Kurokawa and completed in the summer of 2000, as the centerpiece for the 2000 Dinosaur Expo that was hosted in nearby Nagaoyama Park.
It officially opened on July 14, 2000, with an area of approximately 30000 square metre, making it one of the largest museums in all of Japan. There are no support beams within the main display area of the building, allowing for wide open spaces to display the large dinosaurs.
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
museum located in the city of Katsuyama
Katsuyama, Fukui
is a city located in Fukui, Japan.As of October 1, 2005, the city has an estimated population of 26,961 and the density of 106.28 persons per km²...
, Fukui Prefecture
Fukui Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Fukui.- Prehistory :The Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry, on the Sugiyama River within the city limits of Katsuyama, has yielded the Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis and Fukuisaurus tetoriensis as well as an unnamed...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. In addition to being the only dedicated dinosaur museum in all of Japan, it is one of the "World's Three Great Dinosaur Museums" along with the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
The Royal Tyrrell Museum is a popular Canadian tourist attraction and a leading centre of palaeontological research noted for its collection of more than 130,000 fossils....
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the Zigong Dinosaur Museum
Zigong Dinosaur Museum
Located near the Prefecture-level city of Zigong, China, in the smaller township of Dashanpu, is the Zigong Dinosaur Museum. The museum sits on top of a large concentration of dinosaur fossils — both in terms of quantity but also of diversity. The museum claims the largest number of dinosaur...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The museum signed a sister museum agreement with the Royal Tyrrell Museum on November 23, 2000, and contains some exhibits from the museum.
Exhibits
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
From there, visitors can go up to the main exhibition hall, which is the museum's primary exhibition space and consists of dinosaur fossils. Though many of the dinosaur fossils are replicas, some displays use actual dinosaur fossils and visitors are allowed to touch some of the displays. Various diorama
Diorama
The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
s, including some with robotic dinosaurs that move and make sounds, also are used to show visitors a conceptual look at the dinosaurs' habitats.
The museum also contains a "Dino Lab," which has real fossils on display that visitors can feel and lift up. There is also a fossil cleaning room where visitors can watch actual fossils being cleaned and preserved.
There are also outdoor exhibits to complement the main ones inside the museum. From the spring to the fall, visitors can experience excavation activities at a location on the park grounds. Additional replicas of dinosaurs and their fossils can be found throughout the park grounds.
Construction
It officially opened on July 14, 2000, with an area of approximately 30000 square metre, making it one of the largest museums in all of Japan. There are no support beams within the main display area of the building, allowing for wide open spaces to display the large dinosaurs.
Facilities information
- Contact
- Telephone: (0779) 88-0001
- Fax: (0779) 88-8700
- Address: 51-11 Terao, Muraoka-chō, Katsuyama, Fukui Prefecture
- Hours of Operation
- 9:00am to 5:00pm (no entry after 4:30pm)
- Holidays
- 2nd and 4th Wednesday
- Dec. 29 to Jan. 2
- Entrance Fee
Permanent Exhibit Individual Rate Group Rate Elementary/Junior High 250 yen Japanese yenThe is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...200 yen High School/University 400 yen 300 yen General Admission 500 yen 400 yen - Those over 70 years of age or under 6 are allowed free admission.
- Group discounts are available to parties of 30 or larger.
- Special exhibit fees are separate.
- Entrance Fee