VOL.205 JULY 2025
EXPO 2025 OSAKA, KANSAI, JAPAN: THE CHARM OF KANSAI
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum: One of the Largest Exhibits in Japan
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum opened in Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture in 2000.
Photo: ISHIZAWA Yoji
Under the theme of Dinosaur Kingdom Fukui, the Fukui Prefecture Zone of the Kansai Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan showcases the appeal of Fukui Prefecture, a major source of dinosaur fossils. In this article, we introduce the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, which supervised this Expo zone.
The Fukui Prefecture Zone within the Kansai Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, is devoted to the prefecture’s well-known “dinosaurs.” It offers various ways for visitors to experience Dinosaur Kingdom Fukui. The Tour Gate Area welcomes visitors with a life-size Fukuiraptor1 replica. The Excavation Experience Area lets visitors enjoy discovering virtual fossils with a flashlight-type device. The Journey through Time and Space area allows visitors to experience a 120 million year journey back to the Early Cretaceous Period when dinosaurs lived, using VR images surrounded by screens on four sides. All of these are unique ways to enjoy the majestic world of dinosaurs. These exhibits introduce Fukui Prefecture’s unique appeal to the world, in hopes of drawing more visitors to Fukui Prefecture.
Photo: ISHIZAWA Yoji
The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum supervised various aspects of the Expo project, including the Fukuiraptor that greets visitors and the VR images. The museum, which opened in 2000, is one of the largest museums in Japan in terms of scale of exhibits and attracts many visitors interested in learning about the history of the earth, mainly through dinosaur-related materials. We interviewed a member of the museum’s staff.
“The museum is a geology and paleontology museum focused on dinosaurs. It was built in Katsuyama City in northeastern Fukui Prefecture, a major source of dinosaur fossils. The exhibition hall inside the shiny silver dome consists of three zones: Dinosaurs World, Earth Sciences, and History of Life. The vast 4,500 m2 exhibition hall houses over 1,000 specimens, including 50 dinosaur skeletons. The exhibition also features a large diorama and an original motion picture produced by researchers.”
Photo: ISHIZAWA Yoji
Fukui Prefecture’s history of dinosaur excavation since the 1980s was a factor behind the museum’s establishment.
“Fukui Prefecture has been carrying out intermittent dinosaur fossil excavation surveys in Kitadani, Katsuyama City. As a result, we have been able to collect the bones of Theropods2 and Iguanodons,3 as well as many other dinosaurs. Fossilized dinosaur footprints were also found at the excavation site, indicating that many dinosaur herds had lived there. Eggshells and bones of young dinosaurs were also discovered, shedding light on the dinosaur lifespan.”
Photo: ISHIZAWA Yoji
Six new species of dinosaurs were discovered during excavations in Fukui Prefecture. The papers published on these new types have given them names beginning with “Fukui….” For example, the new species of Iguanodon is named Fukuisaurus. At the museum, visitors can see a variety of exhibits and get a sense of the research process.
“The museum offers a variety of activities, including Fossil Preparetion, where you remove dinosaur teeth replicas using actual tools, the T. Rex Restoration, where you can assemble a giant Tyrannosaurus skull, and CT Analysis, where you can scan fossils using X-rays. Although advance reservations are required, these are very popular activities.”
Photo: Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum
Fiscal 2024 saw a record high of over 1.26 million visitors to the museum.
“The number of visitors from other countries has been increasing, and we expect to welcome even more visitors drawn by the Expo 2025 and a special exhibition commemorating the museum’s 25th anniversary that opens in July. Inside the museum, a free guide app is available to everyone. The app is offered in Japanese, English, Chinese (both traditional and simplified), and Korean, enabling visitors from outside Japan to better enjoy the exhibits.” We recommend that everyone experience the museum, as it boasts a wide range of exhibits that children and adults can enjoy and learn from, and even some that will satisfy researchers.
- 1. A carnivorous dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era. 4 to 5 m long, its fossils were discovered in Kitadani Town, Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture and it was recognized as a new species in 2000.
- 2. Dinosaurs of the Saurischia clade of the class Reptilia.
- 3. Dinosaurs of the genus Iguanodon of the Ornithischia and Ornithopoda clades. They are known as the origin of dinosaur research.
By MOROHASHI Kumiko
Photo: Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum; ISHIZAWA Yoji