NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE
The National Museum of Nature and Science, founded in 1877, is one of Japan's most historic museums. It stands as the country's only comprehensive science museum dedicated to the history of nature, science, and technology.
The museum showcases approximately 25,000 specimens and artifacts housed in two buildings: the Japan Gallery and the Global Gallery.
The Japan Gallery, a classic structure designated as a national Important Cultural Property, provides a journey through “The Environment of the Japanese Islands”. It exhibits the nature and origin of the Japanese archipelago and its people, as well as the history of their relationship with nature.
The Global Gallery follows the theme of “The History of Life on Earth” with the interconnected lives of Earth's diverse species on display. It traces the path of life's evolution through repeated births and extinctions amid the changing global environment, along with the history of human wisdom and inventions.
The museum is also home to a dome-shaped theater, "Theater 36◯." The entire interior of this 12.8-meter-diameter dome (roughly 1/1,000,000 the size of Earth) serves as a screen, and visitors can watch from a bridge inside. It is the world's first theatre to offer a unique floating sensation through 360° omnidirectional projection.
Main works (stored items)
Exploring the Mysteries of Dinosaur Evolution
Modern birds and reptiles are entirely different creatures, yet their evolutionary connections have been gradually uncovered through the study of dinosaurs. The origin, growth, diversification, and extinction of dinosaurs remain a captivating mystery. How much can we extract from their fossils?
This exhibition room is full of dinosaur skeletal specimens and fossils.
Many of these are on display for the first time in the world, including a reconstruction of a crouching Tyrannosaurus and a Triceratops with its forelimbs positioned differently from the usual display, both based on new theories.
THEATER 36◯
The Earth Room at the Japan Pavilion Nagakute, which was popular in the Exposition of Global Harmony in 2005, has been moved to the National Museum of Nature and Science and newly constructed as Theater 36O. The theater is 12.8 meters in diameter (one-millionth the size of the earth). The screen is the entire surface of the inner wall. Visitors stand on the bridge across the theater to enjoy the panoramic images. Theater 36O is the world’s first theater that shows images with a 360-degree field of vision to give viewers a unique feeling of floating.
The museum alternates between its seven original programs every month.
- The Last Dinosaurs －Tale of the Fossils－
- The Journey of Humans －The Worldwide Dispersal and the Creativity of Homo sapiens－
- Mantle Dynamics and Evolution of the Earth －Earth's Amazing Interior－
- 30,000-year-old Epic Voyage －Homo Sapiens Arrives in Japan－
- Deep Sea －Submersible sheds light on the dark frontier－
- The Ocean Food Chain －The Flow of Energy from the Sun to the Bluefin tuna fish－
- The Universe:A Journey of 13.8 Billion Years －Everything Comes from the Stars－
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"Techniques in Observing Nature" (Jalian Gallery 1F-South)
Troughton astronomical telescope - ”Japanese People and Nature” (Japan Gallery 2F-North) Akita-inu HACHI
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"History of the Japanese Islands"（Japan Gallery 3F-North）
Plesiosaur: Futabasaurus - ”Japan Gallery Building” Central Hall, Stained Glass, etc.
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"Nature of the Japanese Islands" (Japan Gallery 3F-South)
Minerals and Meteorites in Japan - "Navigators on the History of Earth" (Global Gallery 1F)
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"Progress in Science and Technology" (Global Gallery 2F)
The Myriad-Year Clock -
"Animal of the Earth" (Global Gallery 3F)
－The Endurance of Mammals and Birds－
