The is in the northeast corner of Ueno Park in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. The museum has exhibitions on pre- Meiji science in Japan. It is the venue of the taxidermied bodies of the legendary dogs

Hachikō was a Japanese Akita dog remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner, Hidesaburō Ueno, for whom he continued to wait for over nine years following Ueno's death. Hachikō was born on November 10, 1923, at a farm near the city of Ōda ...

and Taro and Jiro. A life-size

blue whale The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can ...

model and a steam locomotive are also on display outside.

History

Blue whale Life size model. Opened in 1871, it has had several names, including Ministry of Education Museum, Tokyo Museum, Tokyo Science Museum, the National Science Museum of Japan, and the National Museum of Nature and Science as of 2007. It was renovated in the 1990s and 2000s, and offers a wide variety of natural history exhibitions and interactive scientific experiences. It was completed as the main building of the Tokyo Science Museum in September 1931 as part of the reconstruction project after the Great Kanto Earthquake. Neo-Renaissance style. Designed by Kenzo Akitani, an engineer of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Building Division. The building is the most visited museum in Japan, and looks like an airplane when viewed from above. In addition to the exhibition hall, it has facilities such as a dome for astronomical observation and an auditorium. It is designed to withstand earthquakes of the Great Kanto Earthquake class, and it is said that there is no problem in light of the current Building Standards Act standards. In 2021, the museum organized the Pokémon Fossil Museum, a

travelling exhibition A travelling exhibition, also referred to as a "travelling exhibit" or a "touring exhibition", is a type of exhibition that is presented at more than one venue. Temporary exhibitions can bring together objects that might be dispersed among sever ...

based on the '' Pokémon'' franchise, in collaboration with

The Pokémon Company The Pokémon Company (株式会社ポケモン, ''Kabushiki gaisha Pokemon'') is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, publishing, marketing, and licensing of the '' Pokémon'' franchise, which consists of video game ...

. The exhibition opened at the Mikasa City Museum in

Mikasa, Hokkaido is a city located in Sorachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of September 2016, the city has an estimated population of 9,056, and the density of 30 persons per km2. Geography The total area is 302.64 km2. It is bordered on three sides ...

, Japan, on 4 July 2021, and remained there until 20 September. It has since been hosted by several other museums across Japan, including the National Museum of Nature and Science, which hosted it from 15 March to 19 June 2022. A

virtual tour A virtual tour is a simulation of an existing location, usually composed of a sequence of videos, still images or 360-degree images. It may also use other multimedia elements such as sound effects, music, narration, text and floor map. It is dis ...

of the exhibit as it appeared in the museum was also made available online.

Exhibition buildings

Nihonkan (Japan Gallery)

The theme of the Ueno Main Building is "Aiming for the coexistence of humankind and nature," and consists of two exhibition halls, the Japan Pavilion and the Earth Pavilion. File:Zalophus japonicus2.jpg , '' Zalophus japonicus'' File:Futabasaurus.jpg, '' Futabasaurus'' File:Nipponites.jpg, '' Nipponites'' ammonites File:Meteorites fell in Japan.jpg, Meteorites fell in Japan File:Japanese Crested Ibis.jpg, Japanese

crested ibis The crested ibis (''Nipponia nippon''), also known as the Japanese crested ibis, Asian crested ibis or toki, is a large (up to long), white-plumaged ibis of pine forests, native to eastern Asia. Its head is partially bare, showing red skin, and ...

(''Nipponia nippon'') File:Amami rabbit Stuffed specimen.jpg, ''

Amami rabbit The Amami rabbit (''Pentalagus furnessi''; ), or , also known as the Ryukyu rabbit is a dark-furred rabbit which is only found in Amami Ōshima and Toku-no-Shima, two small islands between southern Kyūshū and Okinawa in Kagoshima Prefecture ...

'' File:Japan Wolf Skelton.jpg,

Honshu wolf The Japanese wolf ( ja, ニホンオオカミ（日本狼）, ja, script=Latn, label= Hepburn, Nihon ōkami, or , below">#Nomenclature: "ōkami" and "yamainu"">below ''Canis lupus hodophilax''), also known as the Honshū wolf, is an extinct s ...

(Japanese wolf) File:Hachiko Stuffed specimen.jpg,

File:Terrestrial Globe by Shibukawa Shunkai.jpg, Papier-mache terrestrial globe, created by

Shibukawa Shunkai born as Yasui Santetsu (), later called Motoi Santetsu (), was a Japanese scholar, go player and the first official astronomer appointed of the Edo period. He revised the Chinese lunisolar calendar at the shogunate request, drawing up the Jō ...

in 1695.

Important Cultural Properties of Japan An The term is often shortened into just is an item officially classified as Tangible Cultural Property by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and judged to be of ...

File:Troughton & Simms Astronomical Telescope - Joy of Museums - National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo.jpg , Troughton & Simms astronomical

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observ ...

, 19th century.

File:Milne Horizontal Pendulum Seismograph.jpg, Milne horizontal pendulum seismograph.

File:Tsurigane-Dokei.jpg, Tsurigane-dokei (hanging bell-shaped clock) File:Elekiter replica.jpg, The ''Elekiter'' (replica) made by

Hiraga Gennai was a Japanese polymath and ''rōnin'' of the Edo period. Gennai was a pharmacologist, student of ''Rangaku'', physician, author, painter and inventor well known for his '' Erekiteru'' (electrostatic generator), '' Kandankei'' (thermometer), a ...

File:Paleoparadoxia Skeleton.jpg, '' Paleoparadoxia'' Skeleton

Chikyūkan (Global Gallery)

The theme is "History of Earth Life and Mankind". The exhibition area is 3 floors above ground and 3 floors below ground. The first phase of construction was completed in 1998. The permanent exhibition will be open to the public from April 24, the following year. Grand opening on November 2, 2004 after the completion of the second phase of construction. The renovation work of the north exhibition hall started in September 2014, and the construction was completed the following year, and the grand opening was held on July 14. File:Japanese Wolf.jpg, Honshu wolf (Japanese wolf) File:Giant panda Fei Fei and Tong Tong.jpg, Giant pandas named "Fei Fei" (left) and "Tong Tong" (right) File:Myriad-Year Clock, made by Hisashige Tanaka, 1851, with western and Japanese dials, weekly, monthly, and zodiac setting, plus sun and moon - National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo - DSC07407.JPG, Myriad year clock, 19th century.

file:Dunkleosteus.jpg , ''

Dunkleosteus terrelli ''Dunkleosteus'' is an extinct genus of large armored, jawed fishes that existed during the Late Devonian period, about 382–358 million years ago. It consists of ten species, some of which are among the largest placoderms to have ever lived: ...

'' File:TeaAutomatAndMechanism.jpg, Karakuri ningyō File:Hayabusa restoration model 2.jpg,

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. ''Hayabusa'', formerly known as MUSES-C fo ...

model File:A6M2b Zero at Tokyo-NSM.jpg,

Mitsubishi A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M w ...

(Zero Fighter) Model 21 File:Zero Fighter Plane Model 21.jpg, Zero Fighter Plane Model File:YS-11 Wind tunnel model.jpg,

NAMC YS-11 The NAMC YS-11 is a turboprop airliner designed and built by the Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (NAMC), a Japanese consortium. It was the only post-war airliner to be wholly designed and manufactured in Japan until the development of t ...

wind tunnel model File:Space Flyer Unit.jpg,

Space Flyer Unit The was a spacecraft which was launched by Japan on March 18, 1995.
Main Reference

Technical dat ...

File:Exhibition of National Museum of Nature and Science.jpg, Skeleton of sperm whale File:Animal collection National Museum of Nature and Science.jpg , Animal collection File:Giant Squid Specimen.jpg, Specimen of

giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of abyssal gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at around Trac ...

file:Indricotherium.jpg, ''

Paraceratherium ''Paraceratherium'' is an extinct genus of hornless rhinoceros. It is one of the largest terrestrial mammals that has existed and lived from the early to late Oligocene epoch (34–23 million years ago). The first fossils were discovered ...

'' File:Protypotherium Fossil.jpg, '' Protypotherium'' File:Triceratops Raymond National Museum of Nature and Science.jpg, Fossil of ''

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivorous chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 million years ago in what is now North America. It is one ...

'' named "Raymond" File:Mola mola Stuffed specimen.jpg, largest taxidermy of ''

Mola mola The ocean sunfish or common mola (''Mola mola'') is one of the largest bony fish in the world. It was misidentified as the heaviest bony fish, which was actually a different species, '' Mola alexandrini''. Adults typically weigh between . The sp ...

'' File:Basilosaurus and Tylosaurus.jpg, ''

Basilosaurus ''Basilosaurus'' (meaning "king lizard") is a genus of large, predatory, prehistoric archaeocete whale from the late Eocene, approximately 41.3 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). First described in 1834, it was the first archaeocete and prehistor ...

'' and ''

Tylosaurus ''Tylosaurus'' (from the ancient Greek (') 'protuberance, knob' + Greek (') 'lizard') is a genus of mosasaur, a large, predatory marine reptile closely related to modern monitor lizards and to snakes, from the Late Cretaceous. Description A ...

'' File:Nantan Meteorite National Museum of Nature and Science.jpg, The largest fragment of Nantan meteorite File:Tyrannosaurus rex Bucky - National Museum of Nature and Science.jpg, ''

Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...

'' File:Moon rock National Museum of Nature and Science.jpg, Moon rock File:Displays - National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo - DSC07503.JPG, Taxidermy Displays

National research facility

Museum research facility * Tsukuba Botanical Garden Other National research facilities * Ueno Zoo * Tama Zoo *

Tokyo Sea Life Park is a public aquarium located in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo. It is located in Kasai Rinkai Park in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, and Kasai Rinkai Bird Garden is also located in the park. It can be accessed from Kasai-Rinkai Park Station. The Predecessor is the ...

Access

Ueno Station is a major railway station in Tokyo's Taitō ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno district and Ueno Park—which contains Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo University of the Arts and other ...

Uguisudani Station is a railway station in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The name relates to a valley where formerly many Japanese bush warblers (''uguisu'') were found. The station is to the north of the Tokyo Nationa ...

Keisei Ueno Station is a railway station in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Keisei Electric Railway. It is the terminus of the Keisei Main Line and is a short distance from JR Ueno Station. Layout The station is underground beneath ...

References

External links

National Museum of Nature and Science
- official site in English
National Museum of Nature and Science on Google Cultural Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Museum Of Nature And Science Ueno Park Museums in Tokyo Science museums in Japan National museums of Japan Natural history museums in Japan Museums established in 1871 1871 establishments in Japan Buildings and structures in Taitō Neoclassical architecture in Japan Art Deco architecture in Japan