National Museum of Nature and Science

Tokyo’s National Museum of Nature and Science houses an impressive collection of hands-on science and natural history exhibits spread throughout the spacious, multistory complex. The museum collections are separated into two main areas, the Japan Gallery and the Global Gallery.

The Japan Gallery covers the natural history and biological diversity of the Japanese archipelago, including a pavilion dedicated to the archeological and cultural history of the Japanese people. Here you can learn about how the first humans made their way to Japan, cultural practices of Japan’s earliest tribes and rice cultivation in Japan and how it has changes the environment of the nation.

In the Global Gallery, you’ll find a large collection of mounted birds and animals representing the diversity of Earth’s many environments, a physics gallery filled with hands-on puzzles and games, a look at dinosaurs and their extinction and three large-scale video presentation areas. Don’t leave without visiting Theater 360, a spherical movie theater with 360-degree projections with a viewing bridge through the center. Special exhibitions rotate through the museum every few months.