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Nima Sand Museum

A sand museum featuring the world’s largest one-year hourglass, “Sunagoyomi”.

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This sand museum is home to the world’s largest hourglass. The museum displays sand artworks themed "sand," "time," and "environment," as well as a variety of sand from Japan and around the world.

Six glass pyramid-shaped structures comprise the structures. The world's largest one-year hourglass "Sunagoyomi" (Sand Calendar), hanging 8 meters above the ground in the hope of preserving "Singing Sand" and protecting the environment, is ticking the time in the Time Hall in the center. One ton of sand takes exactly one year to empty from the upper globe to the lower globe in a glass container 5.2 m high and 1 m in diameter. The "Festival of Time," an annual event in which the hourglass is flipped over, is held on New Year's Eve.

It is also the setting for Hinako Ashihara's Japanese comic "Suna-dokei (Hourglass)," which has been dramatized and made into a movie. A special section also displays messages and autographs from the actors, as well as scripts.

Glass craft hands-on workshops such as sandblasting, burner work, and clear candles are popular at the Fureai Koryukan. The hourglasses and key chains featured in the drama are available for purchase.

Highlights

  • It houses the world’s largest one-year hourglass.
  • It is also known as the setting for the comic book, "Suna-dokei”.
  • Visitors can experience sand art and glass crafts.

Photos

  • Designed by world-renowned architect Shin Takamatsu

    Designed by world-renowned architect Shin Takamatsu

  • Bright, glass-walled exhibition room

    Bright, glass-walled exhibition room

  • The one-year hourglass “Suna-dokei” in the Time Hall.

    The one-year hourglass “Suna-dokei” in the Time Hall.

  • The sand falls through an aperture 0.84 mm in diameter.

    The sand falls through an aperture 0.84 mm in diameter.

  • Six all-glass pyramids catch the eye.

    Six all-glass pyramids catch the eye.

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Details

Name in Japanese
仁摩サンドミュージアム
Postal Code
699-2305
Address
975 Nimachoamagochi, Oda City, Shimane
Telephone
0854-88-3776
Holiday
Wednesdays (If Wednesday is a national holiday, closed on the following weekday), New Year’s holidays
Business Hours
9:00am-5:00pm (Admission allowed until 4:30pm)
Admission
Adults 730 yen, Elementary and middle school students 360 yen
Directions
1) 10 minutes on foot from JR Nima Station
2) 40 minutes by car from Gotsu I.C. of San’in Expressway
Credit Cards
Not accepted
Official Website
Official Website (Japanese)