Mifune Dinosaur Museum
御船町恐竜博物館
A museum that explains the region's story better than any guidebook.
Photos
Photos from Wikimedia Commons — click any image for the photographer and licence.
What this place is
Mifune Dinosaur Museum (御船町恐竜博物館, Mifune-machi Kyōryū Hakubutsukan) opened in Mifune, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan in 1998. The museum collects, preserves, researches, and displays the dinosaur fossils found in the area; the collection, which includes Japan's first fossil from a meat-eating dinosaur, Mifunesaurus, numbers some 15,000 items.
Background text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Why it is worth the trip
- Permanent galleries covering local history, industry and daily life in one clear sequence.
- Original artefacts and reconstructions you can get close to, with English panels in most major rooms.
- Rotating special exhibitions, so repeat visits rarely show the same thing twice.
What you can do here
- Follow the permanent exhibition route first — it is usually built as a chronological story.
- Borrow the audio guide or scan the QR panels for English, Korean or Chinese commentary.
- Try the hands-on corner: crafts, replicas and workshops aimed at all ages.
- Finish at the museum shop, which is often the best place in town for local-made souvenirs.
Getting there
We do not have step-by-step transit directions for this spot yet. Open the location on Google Maps for routes from where you are staying.
Good to know before you go
- Closed on Mondays as a rule (or the next weekday when Monday is a holiday).
- Last admission is normally 30 minutes before closing.
- Photography rules differ between permanent and special exhibitions — check the signage.
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