Kitanomaru Science Museum is around 900 meters away from Kudanshita Station. Our kids were insisting on some kind of entertainment and learning outing for Saturday, which was the first day of the first sanrenkyuu (3 consecutive holidays) of 2017. We started at around 1 pm from home. Kudanshita is the 11th stop for us from Higashi-Ojima. Exit No. 4 is the nearest deguchi (exit) to our destination, since we decided to walk from the station. We saw a police box (koban) on the left when we came out of the exit.
We followed the route shown by Google Maps and reached the museum, which is located inside Kitanomarukoen (park). The entrance to the museum is on the ground floor, and there is an information counter on the left side of the front door.
We paid 720 yen for adults and 260 yen for our kids, which made a total of 1,960 yen. For middle and high school students (中学生、高校生), the ticket charge is 410 yen. If you plan to go as a group of 20 and above, the tickets cost 520 yen for adults, 310 yen for middle and high schoolers, and 210 yen for kids above 4 years and up to middle school.
The ticketing staff told us that the museum has the floor guide instruction leaflet in the Japanese language only. You can participate in and understand many interactive learning sessions that the museum conducts if you know the Japanese language. One such learning session we missed was about computer-aided design.
Our kids found the museum very interesting since they could learn many new things and clearly understand many scientific principles of phenomena that they had already learned at school. Unfortunately, very few words are written in English. One of the staff demonstrated the principles of magnetism and explained them in English to our kids.
There is a parking area near the museum. The building has a restaurant in the basement (B1) with a seating capacity of 250, and it opens from 11 in the morning through 4 in the evening. The ground floor, or the first floor, has the reception (information desk), ticket counter, museum shop, and public telephone booth. Lift facilities and wheelchair facilities are available. Museum displays and interactive models are displayed from the 2nd floor to the 5th floor.
On the second floor, we saw a vast collection of old bicycles that are chronologically arranged in demarcated areas to protect them from visitors. We saw the history of bicycles, displays of gear and brake systems, etc. One section named “Mono Dukurium,” which is a room for making things, shows CAD-aided manufacturing, CNC models, 3D printers, and 3D scanners that show body images on a computer screen; the robot working principle; demo models to compare the friction of tires of cars; screw puzzles by George Hart; two-part bagels; twisted tours; four-part cubes; cube puzzles; and Pythagorean puzzles of different shapes; Matsumura’s picture puzzle, etc. Another interesting display was SCARA (selective compliance assembly robot arm) using Yamaha motors.
The Waku Eco Motor-land displays zero-emission technology by Nissan. At the entrance of the motor land, we could see the lithium-ion battery module and lithium-ion battery cell. Kids could experience the effect of collision when driving on the road. For children under 130 cm in height, this gives a virtual experience. The videos showed different situations of dangerous driving and taught how to avoid such situations. The “Winding road driving car and bike” section has a bike, which we can drive by seeing the road on the screen, and it teaches the importance of reducing speed on curves. Children could learn safe driving practices. One of the displays showed car mechanisms and motorcycle mechanisms. Principles of engine, suspension, transmission, and brake systems; steering differential gear; muffler; SRS airbag, etc. are explained in Japanese in this section.
The video of car manufacturing and the factory tour assembly process was also a different learning experience not only for the kids but also for us. A static model of the car showing internal parts is good for both kids and adults to understand what happens when driving. That is named a hybrid skeleton car. It has the functions of stop, start, and slow-speed driving; normal-speed driving; high-speed driving; and braking and stopping.
Kids enjoyed virtual driving of a truck for 3 minutes on a winding road by seeing it on a front screen. The course takes the truck to a warehouse. Near this truck, there is a working model of an engine to learn the mechanism of the engine and cylinder.
The 3rd floor has attractions such as the Atomic Station Geo Lab, different sources of energy, and methods of electricity generation. Information about natural energy sources is particularly useful to kids. A chart shows the ranking of the first three countries based on their production and/or availability of natural resources.
For natural gas, Iran tops with 18%, Russia with 17%, and Qatar with 13%.
Coal is more available in the USA (27%), followed by Russia (18%) and China (13%).
Uranium ore: Australia 29%, Kazakhstan 12%, Russia 9%.
Petroleum: Venezuela 18%, Saudi Arabia 16%, and Canada 10%.
The knowledge that today’s fossil fuel was created by the decomposition of creatures that lived 360 million years ago was exciting to our kids. The nuclear energy section has an interesting comparison that says 1 kg of uranium is equivalent to 100,000 kg of coal.
Models of stones from which rare earth elements can be extracted are also displayed in glass cages. There is also a model showing the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste.
The global warming section describes the causes and effects of global warming. The Bulgaria Yogurt Laboratory of Dr. Bulgaria, sponsored by Meiji, gives scientific knowledge about yogurt. Electro Hall Auroral Science displays many working models of acoustic and aural phenomena. One large model at the front shows similarities between television and auroral signals. Denki Factory displays models of an electrical heater, bulb, and voice changer, where children can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. The staff explained and demonstrated the principles of the magnetic properties of different materials.
The medicine laboratory on the third floor has a chart of the chemical formula of Tacrolimus at the front and a chart showing new medicines contributed by Japan to the world, such as Abilify, Prograf, Benicar, Invokamet, Leuplin, Vesicare, Latuda, Crestor, Actemra, Prevacid, Blopress, Myrbetriq, and so on.
The 4th floor displays materials, vehicles, and tools required for constructing buildings, tunnels, etc. The earthquake protection system was under repair when we visited. There are models of cranes, movers, and wind protection systems. One section displays various models of metal ores, which is named “Metal Factory.” The “Future Scope” section has modern scientific products such as hybrid assistive limbs, mental commit robots, communication robots, rescue robots, security robots, nursing care and welfare robots, receptionist robots, service robots assisting humans and industry, mapping, and new energy futures.
The 5th floor has a house model and simulates the effects of an earthquake. It also has interactive learning tools to understand mechanics. One section is dedicated to mechanics, gears, pendulums, wheels, trick pedals, and gear wrestling. The last section we visited has a set of mirrors that creates multiple images. One of the mirrors displays a question: “How many images can you create?” and kids enjoyed looking at the light well.
Our kids thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Kitanomaru Science Museum. We finished our learning trip at 5 pm.
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