Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History

This museum displays and explains in an easy-to-understand manner the 4.6 billion years of history of the Earth, from its birth to the present. The permanent exhibition is based on the theme of "The Earth, Planet of Life" and consists of four exhibition rooms: "Thinking about the Earth," "Thinking about Life," "Thinking about Nature in Kanagawa," and "Thinking about Coexistence with Nature".

Visitors can get up close with about 10,000 specimens, including real meteorites, ammonite fossils, and everything from insects just a few millimeters long to giant dinosaurs. The exhibition that explains how the land of Kanagawa was formed using strata and fossils is also well worth a visit. The museum also holds special exhibitions with different themes at different times of the year, which are also very popular.

There is also a museum library where visitors can freely browse through nature-related books and magazines. At a museum theater, various videos are shown to deepen the understanding about the permanent exhibits.
(Currently closed due to the pandemic; information from July 2021)

After the tour, take a break at the restaurant where you can eat while looking down at the dinosaur fossils. We also recommend the Terrace Lounge, where you can enjoy dinosaur hashed beef rice, geological formation parfait, and other menu items based on the exhibition. On your way home, you can pick up some original items at the museum store.