Known as Kahaku in Japan, Tokyo National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno Park consists of Global Gallery and Japan Gallery with focus on science and nature of the planet earth and Japan.
National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo
There are many museums in Ueno Park and one of the popular ones with both children and adults is the National Museum of Nature and Science. Our son loves science and he had a really great time learning during our visit there. If your children love science and creatures, you can easily spend half a day in this museum.
The museum is free for anyone under 18 and over 65 years old. It’s a very reasonable 620 yen for everyone else.
The exhibits are divided into two buildings, the Japan Gallery in the front building and Global Gallery in the back. I won’t go through the galleries in too much detail but do a quick intro for them below.
Japan Gallery – Tokyo National Museum of Nature and Science
As you can guess from the name, the Japan Gallery focuses on the nature and history of Japan. The exhibits are spread over 4 floors. On the first floor, the theme is equipment used in science, including clocks, astronomy globe, and earthquake measurement. Most floors have 2 wings where the exhibitions are displayed.
On the second floor, the theme is Japanese People and Nature. Covering topics ranging how humans came to Japanese Island throughout time, organisms surrounding Japan, and the environment that supports Japan today.
On the third floor, the theme is about the formation of the Japanese Islands from pre-dinosaur days in the north wing and the Nature of the Japanese Island on the south wing.
In between the third floor wings there is a really cool room with minerals samples found in Japan as well as meteorites that have fallen in Japan.
On the basement floor is Theater360. Theater360 is a large ball-shaped theater with a bridge built across the middle of the room. Visitors stand on the bridge to immerse in the experience. Once the movie starts, the projection is all around the room and if feels like you are flying through a time machine that’s traveling through the story as footage surrounds you. Not recommended for those who get motion sickness easily.
Global Gallery – Tokyo National Museum of Nature and Science
The second building houses the Global Gallery and it occupies seven floors including a sky deck. The theme for all the floors is about our planet earth, from biodiversity through the evolution of life.
If you decide to visit the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno, definitely plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to enjoy the museum. If you are in a rush we would still recommend at least 2 hours to browse through the museum.
Thank you for reading our quick guide and if you are interested in other museums in the Ueno area head over to our Tokyo travel guides.
- Shinjuku 新宿
- Meiji Jingu 明治神宮
- Harajuku and Omotesando 原宿・表参道
- Shibuya 渋谷
- Roppongi 六本木ヒルズ
- Tokyo Tower (update) 東京タワー
- Ginza 銀座
- Imperial East Garden 皇居東御苑
- Akihabara 秋葉原
- Ueno 上野
- Kappabashi かっぱ橋道具街
- Tokyo Dome City 東京ドームシティー
- Asakusa (update) 浅草
- Tokyo Sky Tree (update) 東京スカイツリー
- Odaiba お台場
