Culture
Fukui Dinosaur Museum
Larry KnipfingWell laid out and with gorgeous exhibits, the Fukui Prefecture Dinosaur Museum is a must see for anyone visiting Japan.
Discover your inner paleontologist at Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. This renowned facility is one of the world’s leading dinosaur museums and is the largest dinosaur museum in the country. It is located in Katsuyama City, which is home to Japan’s largest excavation site. The fossils of five dinosaurs were discovered here.
The museum is closed monthly on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday. If Wednesday is a national holiday, the museum is closed on the following day instead.
The huge facility features permanent exhibitions and special ones that change throughout the year. Its largest exhibition is Dinosaur World with 44 full-body dinosaur skeletons, 10 of which contain a significant amount of original fossils. The entrance of the exhibit is guarded by a life-size animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex, the king of dinosaurs. More robotic dinosaurs are located throughout the area, providing you with visuals of how these magnificent beasts once looked.
The museum’s Earth Sciences exhibition tells the story of Earth and life through hands-on content, videos, rocks, minerals, and fossils, and its History of Life exhibit dives deeper into the origin of life and humankind with informative displays and fossils. At the Dino Lab, you can touch real fossils and investigate the historic bones with magnifiers.
For an authentic archeological experience, join the field station tour at Katsuyama’s excavation site! The tour runs from spring to autumn and lasts about two hours. During the excursion you will have opportunities to observe the excavation site, view fossils uncovered from the site, and look for dinosaurs yourself in a nearby spot. The tour is about a 30-minute bus ride from the museum.
The museum also has a movie theater, dinosaur-themed restaurant, and museum shop.
If you crave more dinosaur fun, check out the surrounding dino-themed establishments, such as the Katsuyama Dinosaur Park and Tyrannosaur Park.
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From Katsuyama Station take a community bus that runs from the station to the museum (15 mins) or a taxi (10 mins).
Well laid out and with gorgeous exhibits, the Fukui Prefecture Dinosaur Museum is a must see for anyone visiting Japan.
Fukui Dinosaur Museum is everybody's favorite in Fukui because it's simply exciting! At the souvenir shop I bought a 'Dinosaur Egg' to hatch at home...
At a height of 17m the Echizen Daibutsu (越前大仏) is the tallest Buddha statue in a sitting position.
Katsuyama Castle Museum (勝山城, Katsuyama shiro) built in 1992 is a reconstruction of the 1579's Katsuyama Castle. At a height of 57.8 meters its Japan's tallest castle.
Heisenji Hakusan Shrine is a Shinto shrine in tThe temple of Heisenji was built about 1300 years ago at the entrance to the Echizen pilgrimage path around sacred Mount Hakusan. Heisenji was considered one of the main stations for pilgrims to the summit of Mount Hakusan. Today, however, only a small part of the original route remains. The original Heisenji Temple burned down to its foundation walls around the 16th century and thus it was rebuilt at the beginning of the Edo period. The temple is surrounded by forests and bright green moss, which can take your breath away at the sight as soon as the sunlight penetrates through the tops of the Japanese cedars. The Heisenji is entered via the moss-covered stony steps which are lined with ancient trees, some of which are over 1000 years old. he city of Katsuyama, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. In the former Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines, it was a prefectural shrine of Fukui Prefecture.