Our 151st entry in this blog is our trip to the famous Nagoya City Science Museum. The Nagoya Science Museum (Nagoya Kagakukan) is located in Shirakawa Park (Shirakawa Kouen) in the Central District Nagoya City. The building’s most striking feature is the Science Museum’s Planetarium. It was Guinness-certified as the world’s largest planetarium in December, 2011. The Nagoya Science Museum is also the largest hands-on science museum in Japan.

We all went first to the Planetarium as the show is about to start when we arrived. It was so big, the biggest planetarium we have tried. The discussions are in Japanese but there are some english texts shown in the big dome. It was so nice to sleep inside as all chairs are like lazy boy chairs. 🙂 hehe… The Science Museum is divided into three main buildings, the Life Science Building, the Science and Technology Building, and the Planetarium.

There is a lot of cool stuff here! In addition to teaching basic knowledge and principles of science and engineering, the Science and Technology Building has three scientific laboratories: the Electric Discharge Lab, Deep Freezing Lab, and Tornado Lab.

Ate Rei and Sai are happy to try the hands on experiments inside the museum. Though it was quite hard to see some of the explanations as they are written in Japanese.

The upper floor of the museum is currently devoted to a display about space and future technology, utilizing touch-screen tablets and other technology. Many of the exhibits have been specifically tailored for children.

Five floors of the seven-storied museum are dedicated to a comprehensive array of permanent exhibits, while temporary exhibitions are periodically held in the basement.

There is also somewhat like a trick art museum that Ate Rei and Sai enjoyed.

The Discovering the Earth floor has fossils that can be touched and a magnifying glass that can be used to observe bugs trapped in amber. The two giant dinosaur skeletons in the center of the area will make you feel like you stepped into Jurassic Park. There is also an Earth Workshop for visitors to get hands-on experience and is very popular among children.

The 3rd floor of the Life Sciences Building has the theme of Food, Clothing, and Housing. The bathroom, the living room and the fixtures within are all dissected, revealing their inner workings.

The 4th and 5th-floor themes are The Wonders of the Human Body and Secrets of Life. Both floors have hands-on facilities for you to experience. At Wonders of the Human Body, there are a variety of game facilities, you can try a game of reaction speed, or experience for yourself the relationship between various organs of the human body.
And that was our quick trip to the Nagoya Science Museum. There are still a lot of areas that we haven’t explored. We hope to go back someday and enjoy the rest of the fun stuffs. 🙂