fossils from the Museum's 'Dino Street' exhibit.
words by G.D. Cruz
Thanks to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), I recently got to revisit Japan’s central region — this time in Fukui on the coast of the Sea of Japan, the prefecture known for being the dinosaur capital of the Land of the Rising Sun.
It was on the second day of the tour when I got to visit a truly remarkable place.
The rain fell heavily when I awoke in my hotel room, but the gloomy weather couldn’t dampen my excitement for a highlight of our tour, the very attraction Fukui was most known for.
After a scrumptious breakfast at the Courtyard by Marriott Fukui — our tour group’s accommodation for this first leg of the Crafts and History tour of Fukui — we made our way to the nearby bus stop while our local guide, Kumiko-san, shared some interesting historical facts about why the prefecture was known as the dinosaur capital of Japan.
fossils from the Museum's 'Dino Street' exhibit.
fossils from the Museum's 'Dino Street' exhibit.
In the late eighties, a fossil of an Early Cretaceous crocodile was discovered in what’s now known as the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry in Katsuyama. Years of excavation and research on the site unearthed many discoveries, including several new fossils that hadn’t been seen anywhere else like the ones belonging to the Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis and the Fukuisaurus tetoriensis.
Because of these discoveries, Katsuyama City was recognized as a Japanese Geopark; the Dinosaur Valley Fukui Katsuyama Geopark.
As a lifelong fan of all things dinosaur, I craved to know more about the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry. Luckily, we would be visiting the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, one of the world’s leading dinosaur museums and the largest in Japan. Surprisingly, getting to our destination would also be quite an experience.
two visitors cowering before the animatronic T-Rex at the entrance of the 'World of Dinosaurs' exhibit.
The hour-long drive to Katsuyama City was a showcase of picturesque scenery, culture, history…and dinosaurs, some of which were rowdy enough to slam into the side of our tour bus more than once.
Yes, a T-Rex did ram its head through my window, causing cracks to appear on the glass — rather, the flat screen that had replaced the conventional bus window.
No, we didn’t go back in time—or maybe we did. The XR Bus Tour: WOWRIDE IKOSSA Fukui Go did feel like a time machine sending us back into the prehistoric era using a combination of augmented reality and virtual reality images projected from the screens around us. Suddenly, what could’ve been a languid drive across farmland and mountain scenery was transformed into an immersive virtual experience that was both entertaining and educational, a theme that would continue at our destination.
One fun thing about XR Bus Tour: WOWRIDE was its interactive component. The bus operators asked us questions about dinosaur facts we learned from watching the actors on the screen guide us through their adventure.
We began our visit to the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum inside its themed restaurant where visitors like me got to enjoy some tasty dinosaur-inspired dishes. Mine was a curry bowl whose contents resembled the shape of a spinosaurus, a playful presentation both children and adults could appreciate. The food tasted delicious too.
Our tour started after lunch, beginning at the atrium whose stunning architecture was inspired to look like a four-story dig site. From there, we visited the extensive dinosaur exhibits. The ‘World of Dinosaurs’ located at the first floor was a great hall of fossil displays and animatronic dinosaurs that offered guests a remarkable glimpse into a land before time where great reptiles roamed the world.
One such reptile was an animatronic T-Rex whose life-like visage and mighty roar caused visitors to flock around it, something man’s ancestors wouldn’t have done if a real T-Rex had been nearby.
More than 40 dinosaur skeletons — including 10 original fossils — can be viewed by guests who visit this exhibit along with a nearly 200 square meter diorama of the excavation site.
The ‘Dino Street’ located in the basement was a passage of wall-to-wall dino bones that was a treat to see. While ‘Science of the Earth’ which was on the first floor focused on geological discoveries such as rock formation, precious gems, among others.
There’s a lot more to discover about the Fukui Dinosaur Museum, and I encourage asianTraveler readers to take the tour yourselves.
The Fukui Dinosaur Museum wasn’t the only highlight of the Crafts and History tour of Fukui. Read more about my adventure in asianTraveler’s next issue, coming this April 2025!
Left photo: The bones of a Tyrannosaurus Rex is just one of the many fossils in this 200 square meter diorama. Top right photo: The 'Science of Earth' hall that shows a variety of geological discoveries. Top left photo: Scientists working on fossils inside the museum's 'Dino Lab.'
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