Osaka Science Museum
Located in Osaka's Nakanoshima area, surrounded by office buildings, the Osaka Science Museum is one of Japan's leading science museums. It caters to visitors of all ages, from children to adults, and promotes a culture of enjoying science under the theme of "Space and Energy." The museum features a four-floor exhibition space with its own theme and a state-of-the-art planetarium equipped with the world's most advanced projection system. The exhibits include not only rare artifacts but also hands-on exhibit that allow visitors to experience science firsthand. Through these engaging experiences, the museum aims to fulfill its mission of promoting a culture of enjoying science.
The exhibition halls house about 200 hands-on exhibit and real artifacts related to space, electricity, weather, the history of science, and various resources. Visitors can scan the QR codes attached to the exhibits to access English, Simplified Chinese, and Korean descriptions.
Main works
The first planetarium projector was introduced in Japan and was installed at the Osaka Municipal Electric Science Museum in 1937 as the pinnacle of "electricity applications." Manufactured by the German company Carl Zeiss, it was cutting-edge equipment at the time, capable of projecting realistic starry skies on a dome screen and reproducing the night sky of any location on earth from the past to the future. Operated and narrated by specialists, it delighted approximately 11 million visitors over 52 years before its retirement in 1989, significantly contributing to promoting science and astronomy.
Gakutensoku is a robot created in 1928 (Showa 3) by Makoto Nishimura (1883-1956), who was an advisor to the Osaka Mainichi Newspaper's cultural department and is said to be the first robot in Asia. This is a replica of the original Gakutensoku. The name "Gakutensoku" means "learning from the laws of the universe (natural science)." Its design incorporates various facial features from different ethnicities. It operates for three minutes every hour using compressed air.
- Carl Zeiss Constellation Projector
- A book introducing Sumitomo copper refinery "Kodo Zuroku"
- Cockcroft-Walton Accelerater
- "Record of speech at Osaka Seimi-Kyoku opening ceremony" published by Osaka Chemical School
- Star chart "Tenmon Bunya no Zu" (Osaka Science Museum's History of Science Collection)
- Poems and Calligraphy by Shigetomi Hazama
- Regiomontanus' Epytoma in almagesti Ptolemei (Osaka Science Museum's History of Science Collection)
- Osaka Municipal Electric Science Museum Promotional Poster
