The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum is widely regarded as one of the world’s best dinosaur museums and research facilities with displays aimed at both adults and children. The expansive museum is spread across four-floors and includes a permanent exhibition space – boasting more than 40 dinosaur skeletons along with reconstructions and animatronics – along with a special exhibition area, observable research laboratory, restaurant and giftshop.

There is as much fun for children and adults, exhibitions also include excellent displays regarding other prehistoric life and the evolution of dinosaurs into birds. It doesn’t stop at just animals, there are plenty of fossils of plants as well. In the main hall, 50 full dinosaur skeletons are displayed with 10 of them composed of original fossils. The real reconstructions of fossils will have your imagination running as you think about the world that all of these lifeforms used to inhabit millions of years ago. A large number of the actual fossils you can see at the museum were taken from the field station nearby.

Guided tours to the nearby Katsuyama Field Station – an active excavation site  – can be booked at and start from the museum. Visitors have the option of booking a 2-hour tour to a nearby excavation. Doing so provides visitors with a firsthand experience of the science and sheer endeavor behind locating and excavating dinosaur remains in the field.

Guests are transported to the excavation site, where the guide introduces them to process of excavation including up-close inspection of fossils before getting hands-on, with guests assisting with some basic tasks. Tours are conducted in Japanese but international guests are welcome to join, with English pamphlets provided. Bookings must be made in advance.

The Katsuyama Dino Forest Park is immediately accessible from the museum. The forest park features 44 life-size reconstructions, including some animatronics, of dinosaur organized into eight themed areas. Open from 09:00 to 16:00, paths lead through the park area allowing visitors to get up-close and personal with the dinosaur – an experience intended for kids but also great fun for adults. It takes around 20 minutes to walk around the park, but of course, it all depends on how much time you want to spend with each dino!

Make sure to take your camera as you can get some fantastic photographs with the life-like reconstructions. A fun way and informative way to walk with dinosaurs!

Fukui City is a great starting point if you are heading to the dinosaur museum. There are many other great attractions in the area such as Fukui Castle, Atagosaka and Eiheiji Temple, the head temple of Zen Buddhism. Join us for a tour of these sights and more as you explore this beautiful part of Japan even deeper.

EIHEIJI & FUKUI CITY FROM KANAZAWA / all year round

1 Day Tour

1 Day Tour from Kanazawa: Eiheiji Temple and Fukui City Castle Town
Period	All Year Round
Time	08:30 – 18:00
Meeting Place	Kanazawa Station Fukui Station
Adult Rate	¥25,300 / 17,800
Child Rate	¥14,500 / 11,000

As one of the head temples of the world famous Japanese Zen Buddhist sect, Eiheiji Temple is a place where you can feel the mystery and beauty of traditional architecture hidden in a natural paradise. On this tour you can choose start from either Kanazawa Station or Fukui Station. After grouping up at Fukui Station, we will take a tour of the city in the morning, seeing the castle walls, the “rainbow” shrine, and views of the city from the Atagozaka Slope. We will eat in the city before heading out on a direct bus to Eiheiji Temple. The ride into the mountains is about 30 minutes and we will arrive near the temple grounds. This area has had groupings of temples for over 500 hundred years and at its peak had thousands of monks living in the area. We will walk through the temple and learn about the history as we climb up deeper into the temple. There are many excellent photo spots to discover, too. The are so many interesting angles that catch the intertwining of nature and architecture all over the complex. Try to find the one that touches you the most!