Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum

Coordinates: 36°04′58″N 136°30′24″E / 36.082909°N 136.506666°E / 36.082909; 136.506666
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Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum (FPDM)
福井県立恐竜博物館
Entrance to the museum
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum is located in Japan
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum
The museum on the map of Japan
EstablishedJuly 14, 2000
Location51-11 Terao, Muroko-chō, Katsuyama, Fukui Prefecture, Japan
Coordinates36°04′58″N 136°30′24″E / 36.082909°N 136.506666°E / 36.082909; 136.506666
TypeNatural history museum
ArchitectKisho Kurokawa
WebsiteOfficial website

Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum (福井県立恐竜博物館, Fukui Ken-ritsu Kyōryū Hakubutsukan) is a museum in Fukui Prefecture, Japan.[1] It is one of many museums supported by prefectures in Japan.[2] The museum is in the Nagaoyama Park in the city of Katsuyama.[3]

Because of a number of dinosaur fossils found here, the whole city of Katsuyama was called “Dinosaur Valley Fukui Katsuyama Geopark” in 2008.[4]

Guide tours are held here during warm seasons.[5] It is said to be one of the Three Greatest Dinosaur Museums with The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Canada and The Zigong Dinosaur Museum in China.[6]

As of 2020, more than 11 milion people visited the museum in total. [7]

Inside the museum

History[change | change source]

The museum was opened in 2000, close to a real dinosaur remains site. It was built in Katsuyama because a lot of fossils have been found there since 1989. Famous fossils such as Fukuiraptor and Fukuisaurus are also showed in this museum.

The building was designed by Kisho Kurokawa.[8]

The building was made in a dome shape.

The cost of the construction was about 14 billion Japanese Yen.[9]

In 2014, a dinosaur building was opened outside, in which people can experience digging fossil as they look at the remains.

Exhibits[change | change source]

The exhibition is divided into 5 zones: "Dino Street", "World of Dinosaurs", "Science of the Earth", "History of Life", and "Dino Lab". 44 skeletons of dinosaurs including 10 original fossils are displayed in the "World of Dinosaurs" zone.

The “Science of the Earth” zone shows the earth from two points of view--“Water and the Earth” and “Fire and the Earth”. People can see how active the Earth is by observing its sediments, rocks, and minerals.

The “History of Life” zone shows the origin of life and vertebrates, and how they have evolved for 4.6 billion years. Organisms on the Earth have evolved through a repeated cycle of evolution and extinction. As living organisms and environment influenced each other, the present Earth environment was formed. You can read the story of life as told by these fossils.

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ Chubu Wide-Area Tourism Promotion Council, Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum Archived 2009-03-25 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-10-18.
  2. ↑ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. pp. 671–673. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
  3. ↑ Katsuyama City, "Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum" Archived 2007-10-07 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-10-18.
  4. ↑ "Dinosaur Valley Fukui Katsuyama Geopark". www.city.katsuyama.fukui.jp. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
  5. ↑ "FPDM : Field Station". FPDM: Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
  6. ↑ "Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum | Meet Arts - Museum & Gallery in Japan". Retrieved 2020-07-15.
  7. ↑ "恐竜博物館入館者が1100万人突破 記念セレモニーで節目祝う | 社会 | 福井のニュース". 福井新聞ONLINE (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2021-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  8. ↑ "KISHO KUROKAWA". www.kisho.co.jp. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
  9. ↑ "FPDM: 恐竜博物館の建物". www.dinosaur.pref.fukui.jp. Retrieved 2020-07-15.

Other websites[change | change source]

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