Kasaoka City Horseshoe Crab Museum
The world's only museum devoted to horseshoe crabs, with a full-size dinosaur park attached.
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Kasaoka City Horseshoe Crab Museum
SaveThe world's only museum devoted to horseshoe crabs, with a full-size dinosaur park attached.
Children handle real trilobites and ammonites, then brush sand away to dig fossils out themselves.
MoreWhat kind of place
This is the only museum in the world devoted to horseshoe crabs, and it faces the Konoshima Channel, a nationally designated breeding ground for them.
The building itself is shaped like a horseshoe crab, and inside, a tank nearly ten feet wide holds live adults while a theater seats up to 80.
The dinosaur park was the first full-scale one in Japan: eight life-size models of seven species, all built under academic supervision.
Fossils keep no pigment, so the colors were chosen by comparison with mammals alive today, which is why the Diplodocus is patterned like a giraffe.
Sources and evidence (19)
- It is the only museum in the world on the theme of horseshoe crabs, looking out over the Konoshima Channel, a nationally designated natural monument as a horseshoe crab breeding ground.source
- The building is shaped to suggest a horseshoe crab.source
- The attached dinosaur park is one of the few full-scale ones in Japan, with eight life-size dinosaurs of seven species, every one of them made under academic supervision.source
- It was the first full-scale dinosaur park in the country.source
- The dinosaurs are not playground equipment: built under academic supervision, they reproduce details down to the wrinkles in the skin and the way the muscle sits.source
- Since fossils preserve no pigment, the dinosaurs' colors were decided by comparison with mammals alive today, so the Diplodocus is patterned like a giraffe and the Iguanodon is colored like a Thomson's gazelle.source
- A large tank in the exhibition room, 2.95 m wide, 1.04 m deep, and 0.75 m high, or roughly 10 by 3.5 feet, lets you watch live adult horseshoe crabs up close.source
- Young horseshoe crabs, the larvae, can be seen in the breeding exhibition room.source
- An observation room with an open front gives a wide view over the nationally designated horseshoe crab breeding ground.source
- The observation room is closed whenever staff judge conditions dangerous, such as strong wind or heavy rain from a typhoon.source
- There are two lounges, designed after the compound eyes of a horseshoe crab.source
- A horseshoe crab theater with a large screen holds up to 80 people for a film and a quiz, according to the English site.source
- The living fossils corner lines up eight kinds of living fossils, and a horseshoe crab fossil from Solnhofen, Germany, even preserves the tracks the animal left as it walked, according to the English site.source
- From hatching to adulthood, males are thought to molt 15 times over 13 years and females 16 times over 14 years, according to the English site.source
- To protect the horseshoe crabs of Kasaoka Bay, a natural monument, the museum breeds and releases them, and the breeding exhibition room shows that process and the larvae up close, according to the English site.source
- The dinosaur park has tables and benches and a log cabin shelter, so you can settle in with a packed lunch even in the rain.source
- You can bring your own lunch, and there are plenty of places to eat it, according to a review of a March 2020 visit.source
- The inside of the museum stays cool and comfortable even at the height of summer, according to an August 2025 blog post from a family with three daughters.source
- The restrooms are kept clean, according to a blog post from an August 2025 visit.source
With kidsThe part that matters
An hour of looking at glass cases is a lot to ask of a young child. Here they can hold real trilobites and ammonites, then brush sand away to dig a fossil out themselves.
A ramp runs from the first floor up to the second, so the stroller never has to be folded, and the nursing room and diaper changing table are both on the first floor.
Plan about an hour indoors, then let them loose in the free playground among the full-size dinosaurs outside. That park has picnic tables and a log cabin shelter, so you can bring your own lunch even if it rains.
Sources and evidence (7)
- One corner of the dinosaur park is a playground with equipment in a range of sizes.source
- At the touch corner you can handle fossils such as ammonites and trilobites, and use a brush to dig fossils out of the sand they are hidden in.source
- Children are handed a coloring sheet as they come in, and one of the two lounges is set up as the room for coloring.source
- 5- and 7-year-old: a quiz film every 20 minutes, a controller moving the crab's legs and tail, a free coloring sheet.source
- The climbing structure is DHINOSAUR TREE, half tree half dinosaur. Eight dinosaurs stand across desert, sea and forest.source
- August, three sisters aged 7 to 12. Cool inside, clean toilets, and the females carry the males - that won them over.source
- Three- to five-year-olds counted the crabs' legs, pressed the quiz buttons, dug for crabs in sand: over an hour inside.source
By age0-1 / 2-3 / 4-6
- Ages 0-1A ramp takes you from the first floor to the second, so you can go round with the stroller as it is. In the exhibition room, a large tank 2.95 meters wide holds living adult horseshoe crabs to watch close up. Outside in the Dinosaur Park stand eight life-size dinosaurs of seven kinds, there to look up at from your arms.The nursing room and the diaper changing table are both on the first floor. The nursing space is one private room with one changing table, a simple corner curtained off from the passage that runs from reception to the restrooms. Inside there is a baby bed and a chair, but no hot water for formula and no microwave, so bring hot water with you. Two strollers are available to borrow. The building stays cool even in midsummer, and the observation room closes when a typhoon's strong wind or heavy rain makes it unsafe.
- Ages 2-3At the touch corner children handle fossils, ammonites and trilobites among them. There is also a horseshoe crab marionette whose legs and tail spine move when you work the handle. Every child is given a coloring sheet on the way in, and one of the two rest rooms upstairs is the coloring room, set where the eye of the horseshoe-crab-shaped building is, so daylight comes in.The finished coloring sheet can be pinned up in the room, or handed to reception on the way out to be displayed; taking it home is fine too. The Dinosaur Park outside is free, parking included, and it has tables, benches and a log-house shelter, so a packed lunch works even on a rainy day. A preschool outing with 3- to 5-year-olds (September 2025) spent over an hour inside the museum alone, not counting the Dinosaur Park.
- Ages 4-6With a brush, children sweep away sand to dig out a hidden fossil. The touch-panel horseshoe crab quiz has plenty of hard questions, and the Horseshoe Crab Theater, which holds up to 80, shows film and quizzes on a large screen. On the first floor a Baryonyx moves and roars, and one corner of the Dinosaur Park is an athletic playground with play equipment large and small.The dinosaurs in the park are not playground equipment: all eight, of seven kinds, were built under academic supervision, down to the wrinkles of the skin and the set of the muscles. For climbing, use the athletic playground in the corner of the same park. The museum is open 9:00 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:30. Admission is 500 yen general, 300 yen for high school students and 200 yen for elementary and junior high pupils from outside the city; pupils living in Kasaoka or attending a school there enter free on showing the Kasaoka Kids free passport at reception.
By weatherRain, heat, cold
- Rainy dayThe big tank with live horseshoe crabs, the touch corner where you handle fossils, and the coloring room are all inside the building. The adjoining Dinosaur Park is outside, but it has tables, benches, and a log-house shelter, so you can still spend time there with a packed lunch on a rainy day. The observation room, open at the front, is closed when strong wind or heavy rain is judged dangerous.
- Hot dayNot checked yet
- Cold dayNot checked yet
Time needed1 h
How was it with your kids?
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Family checks✓ easy for your family
- ElevatorElevator：not checked
- Stroller OKStroller friendly：with conditionsconditions
- RentalStroller rental：with conditionsconditions
- NursingNursing space：with conditionsconditions
- ChangingDiaper changing table：with conditionsconditions
- Family WCFamily restroom：with conditionsconditions
- Own foodOutside food allowed：with conditionsconditions
- EnglishEnglish support：not checked
Tap a mark for details
* Other not checked (2)
Diaper disposal bin, Kids' toilet seat & step stool
Green = we confirmed it. Gray = not checked yet. Gray with a line through = the place does not have it.
Worth a look before you go
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
5- and 7-year-old: a quiz film every 20 minutes, a controller moving the crab's legs and tail, a free coloring sheet.
Under two hours from Hiroshima: the Kasaoka City Horseshoe Crab Museum
Japanese · opens translatedOfficial
The climbing structure is DHINOSAUR TREE, half tree half dinosaur. Eight dinosaurs stand across desert, sea and forest.
New play structures keep arriving: five big parks in Kasaoka
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
August, three sisters aged 7 to 12. Cool inside, clean toilets, and the females carry the males - that won them over.
We went to the Horseshoe Crab Museum in Kasaoka, Okayama — a museum report
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
Three- to five-year-olds counted the crabs' legs, pressed the quiz buttons, dug for crabs in sand: over an hour inside.
A field trip to the Horseshoe Crab Museum and Bay Farm
Kasaoka City Horseshoe Crab Museum · Links & reads ▾
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Where it is
1946-2 Yokoshima, Kasaoka-shi, Okayama 714-0043source
Basics
- Fee：General ¥500 · high school ¥300 · elementary & junior high from outside the city ¥200. Groups of 20 or more: ¥400 / ¥250 / ¥150. Annual passports ¥1,500 / ¥900 / ¥600. Prices were lowered on 1 April 2026. Free for elementary and junior-high children living in or schooled in Kasaoka (show the Kasaoka-kko free passport), for elementary children with a Takahashi River Basin passport (weekends and holidays only), and for a disability certificate holder plus one carersource
- Hours：9:00-17:00, last admission 16:30. The dinosaur park keeps the same hours and closes when the museum does. Closed Mondays (the next day if that Monday is a holiday), the day after a public holiday, and 29 December to 3 January — but open every day from 25 March to 10 April, 27 April to 10 May, and 15 July to 31 Augustsource
- Time to allow：1 hsource
- Booking：No reservation is mentioned for general admission. Annual passports are sold as well as single-visit ticketssourceOfficial booking site ↗
Basics in detail (17)
Hours and closures
- The museum is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with last entry at 4:30 p.m.source
- The dinosaur park keeps the same 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. hours and closes on the days the museum is closed.source
- It is closed on Mondays (or the following day when that Monday is a public holiday or a substitute holiday), on the day after a public holiday, and from December 29 through January 3.source
- It stays open every day from March 25 to April 10, from April 27 to May 10, and from July 15 to August 31.source
Fees
- Individual admission is 500 yen for adults, 300 yen for high school students, and 200 yen for elementary and junior high students from outside the city.source
- Groups of 20 or more pay 400 yen for adults, 250 yen for high school students, and 150 yen for elementary and junior high students from outside the city.source
- An annual pass costs 1,500 yen for adults, 900 yen for high school students, and 600 yen for elementary and junior high students from outside the city.source
- Admission prices were revised downward on April 1, 2026.source
- Elementary and junior high students who live in Kasaoka or attend school there get in free by showing the city's Kasaoka-kko free passport at the front desk.source
- Elementary students holding a Takahashi River Basin Passport get in free, but only on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays.source
- Visitors who show a disability certificate, plus one caregiver, are admitted free, and the Mirairo ID disability certificate app is accepted in place of the paper booklet.source
- Residents of the city aged 65 and over are admitted free when they show proof.source
- The dinosaur park outside is free, as is the parking, and some families spread out a picnic there, according to a March 2023 visit report.source
Getting there
- From JR Kasaoka Station, take the Ikasa Bus Company Konoshima line and get off at Kabutogani Hakubutsukan-mae, the stop in front of the museum.source
- The English site says the bus from Kasaoka Bus Station, in front of the train station, takes about 20 minutes.source
- By car it is 9.7 km, about 6 miles, from the Kasaoka interchange on the Sanyo Expressway.source
- The address is 1946-2 Yokoshima, Kasaoka City, Okayama Prefecture, and the phone number is 0865-67-2477.source
Once you've decided
evidence & sources (9)
- mamamap.jp: Diaper changing table, Nursing space
- kasaoka-kankou.jp: Family restroom, Steps & slope caution
- okayama-kanko.jp: Stroller friendly, Stroller rental
- iko-yo.net: Outside food allowed
- Official: Kids' price & free conditions
- Official: main site
An observation room overlooks the horseshoe crab breeding ground, a national natural monument. Live adults swim in a large tank and larvae are reared in the breeding room. Outside, eight full-size dinosaurs of seven species stand in a park with a playground in one corner. They were built under academic supervision, down to the wrinkles in the skin. A crank makes a model horseshoe crab move its legs and tail spine. Children get a coloring sheet at the door and fill it in a room shaped like a compound eye.
| Kids' price & free conditions | Yes | High school ¥300 and elementary/junior high from outside the city ¥200 against ¥500 for adults. Elementary and junior-high children living in or schooled in Kasaoka enter free with the Kasaoka-kko passport. Nothing is stated about children below school age | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | city.kasaoka.okayama.jp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroller friendly | Yes | A ramp leads from the first floor to the second, so you can go around with the stroller. Two loaner strollers are also available | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | okayama-kanko.jp |
| Stroller rental | Yes (2) | Two strollers are available to borrow | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | okayama-kanko.jp |
| Diaper changing table | Yes (1) | One changing table on the first floor, inside the nursing corner - a space curtained off from the corridor near the reception | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | mamamap.jp |
| Nursing space | Yes (1) | One space on the first floor with a baby bed and a chair. It is a simple corner curtained off from the corridor between the reception and the toilets, and there is no hot water for formula | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | mamamap.jp |
| Family restroom | Yes | There is a wheelchair-accessible toilet | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | kasaoka-kankou.jp |
| Diaper disposal bin | Not checked yet | ||||
| Kids' toilet seat & step stool | Not checked yet | ||||
| Elevator | Not checked yet | ||||
| English support | Not checked yet | ||||
| Indoor / outdoor | Indoor & outdoor | The museum itself is indoors and stays cool even in midsummer. The park with the full-size dinosaurs is outdoors | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | ameblo.jp |
| Outside food allowed | OK to bring your own | Bring your bento to the outdoor dinosaur-park side: there are tables, benches and a log-house shelter you can use even on rainy days. Nothing is stated about eating inside the museum building | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | iko-yo.net |
| Steps & slope caution | Barrier-free | There is a wheelchair-accessible ramp | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | kasaoka-kankou.jp |
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