Sendai City Science Museum
A science museum greeting you with an allosaurus skeleton cast, its exhibits built to be handled.
piggybackjapan.com
Sendai City Science Museum
SaveA science museum greeting you with an allosaurus skeleton cast, its exhibits built to be handled.
Its subway simulator runs the real stretch of line that ends at the museum's own station.
MoreWhat kind of place
The city's science museum sits inside Dainohara Forest Park and has two main exhibit floors. The third, rebuilt and reopened in April 2025, holds seven zones on everyday science.
The fourth covers the nature and geology of the Sendai area, plus the basics of measuring things.
Indoors, a machine three meters (10 feet) tall makes tornadoes and typhoons; outside, an open-air geology display sets out 35 kinds of rock.
One display gathers inventions that came out of Sendai, among them optical fiber communication and mass spectrometry.
A human-powered aircraft built by a student club at Tohoku University hangs from the ceiling of the entrance hall.
Sources and evidence (38)
- Changing tables are in front of the third- and fourth-floor restrooms, and by the office on the second floor.source
- Each changing table has a bin for used diapers beside it: on the third and fourth floors they are on the east side of the building, by the wide restrooms, and on the second floor they are on the west side.source
- There are nursing rooms on the second, third, and fourth floors; to use the second-floor room, ask at the office.source
- The nursing rooms on the third and fourth floors are right by the restrooms, and on the second floor you can use the first-aid room by asking at the reception desk.source
- The wide restrooms on the second through fourth floors have a baby seat where a small child can be seated safely.source
- The museum does not set aside a place in the entrance hall or elsewhere for eating a packed lunch.source
- There is a restaurant serving light meals on the fourth floor.source
- Parking is free, with room for about 200 cars, and is open from 9:00 to 17:00.source
- The museum pamphlet is published as a PDF in both Japanese and English.source
- The third-floor Wonder Science Room, on science in daily life, reopened after renovation on April 5, 2025.source
- The third floor is divided into seven zones: Challenge Lab, Nature and Disasters, The Wonder of You, Wonder Tower, Vehicle Garage, The Wonder of the Senses, and the Partner Lab.source
- In the Challenge Lab you can stand inside a giant soap bubble and move magnetic fluid around with a magnet.source
- At the entrance to the Nature and Disasters zone stands a machine three meters (10 feet) tall that makes tornadoes and typhoons.source
- The earthquake theater, called Gurari-kun, reproduces the shaking that was recorded in Sendai during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.source
- Put your hand into the Wonder Scan and you can see bones, blood vessels, and muscle, or the temperature of your skin.source
- Speak into the Wonder Voice and your voice comes back higher or lower, in five different versions.source
- At the center of the Wonder Tower zone stands a tower about three meters (10 feet) high, and you can move balls up it using four different mechanisms.source
- In the Vehicle Garage you can climb into a real airplane and a real formula racing car and take photos.source
- The subway driving simulator covers the run from Dainohara Station to Asahigaoka Station on the Namboku Line.source
- The Wonder of the Senses zone has mirrors that bend your body out of shape and an Ames room that makes people look bigger or smaller than they are.source
- The Partner Lab explains how NanoTerasu, a 3 GeV high-brightness synchrotron radiation facility, works and what research it makes possible.source
- The fourth-floor section on the nature of Miyagi and Sendai is made up of three zones: Memory of the Earth, Forest of Looking, and Gateway to Nature.source
- Memory of the Earth opens with a huge ancient elephant and goes on to fossils and rocks from Miyagi, with videos about how the land was formed.source
- In the Forest of Looking you can freely touch and look up at specimens of plants, butterflies, mushrooms, and rocks.source
- The Hirose River Sky Adventure is a sweeping video that carries you up the Hirose River, from its lower reaches to its upper ones.source
- The fourth-floor Science Inquiry section has a Science Unit where you learn the basics of length, weight, area, volume, and time by trying them yourself.source
- Around a periodic table, hands-on devices are grouped by theme, covering the properties of matter, the use of energy, and waves, sound, and light.source
- A full allosaurus skeleton, a replica, is on display in the entrance hall.source
- A human-powered aircraft built by a student club at Tohoku University hangs from the entrance hall ceiling.source
- Feed a sheet of paper into the Stamp Robo and it stamps the paper for you.source
- Sendai's Treasure Box of Inventions displays inventions that came out of the city, including optical fiber communication (Dr. Jun-ichi Nishizawa), mass spectrometry (Koichi Tanaka), and the Yagi-Uda antenna.source
- The nature observation deck looks out over the whole of Dainohara Forest Park.source
- An open-air geology display outside the building holds 35 kinds of rock, from Miyagi Prefecture and beyond.source
- A nature study garden in the northeast part of Dainohara Forest Park has a walking path where you can see the plants and animals of each season.source
- As an exhibit outside the building, fossils from the Tatsunokuchi Formation are shown in the fossil display corner at Sendai Station on the subway Tozai Line.source
- A special exhibition called Deep Space: Where Is Humanity Headed runs from July 18 to August 30, 2026.source
- Staff in orange vests are on the floors, and you can ask them science questions.source
- The Wakuwaku Exploration Sheet, a quiz sheet you solve as you go around the museum, is still being prepared.source
With kidsThe part that matters
The exhibits here are made to be handled, not watched through glass, and one to two hours is enough to get around them.
At the subway simulator a child works the driver's controls on the real stretch of line that ends at Asahigaoka Station, five minutes' walk away.
The way there from the station includes a long staircase, so with a stroller go out by East Exit 1, where the elevator is, and you skip the steps.
The fourth floor has a restaurant, and that day's ticket lets you step outside and come back in as often as you like, which is worth knowing because eating is not allowed in the exhibit rooms and no spot is set aside for a packed lunch.
Sources and evidence (5)
- Four or five visits between kindergarten and second grade, about two hours each; exhibits are there to touch and work.source
- Near-empty on a weekday and done in an hour: strollers are lent out, and staff let you into the nursing room.source
- A five-minute walk from the museum: kids' plate ¥750, and a Miyagi parenting passport gets one free soft drink.source
- On a holiday the parking lot can take 30-60 minutes to get into; the quake theater needs 120cm and the simulator age 3.source
- A Thursday in the summer holidays: busy, but with so many exhibits you can move to a free one. Eat before going in.source
By age0-1 / 2-3 / 4-6
- Ages 0-1An allosaurus skeleton cast stands in the entrance hall, and a human-powered aircraft built by a Tohoku University student club hangs from the ceiling above it — large things to look up at, right where you come in. Photographing the exhibits and the building is free.Strollers are lent out — ask at the main reception. Diaper changing beds are outside the 3rd and 4th floor toilets and in front of the 2nd floor office, and a baby bed with a diaper bin is set up near the accessible toilets on the 3rd and 4th floors on the east side and near the 2nd floor toilet on the west side. Nursing rooms are on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors; for the one on the 2nd floor, speak to the office at reception. With a parent, preschoolers enter free. It is about a 5-minute walk from Asahigaoka station on the Namboku Line, but the way there has a long flight of stairs, so use Exit Higashi 1 for the elevator. That day's ticket lets you step outside and come back as often as you like.
- Ages 2-3Speak into Wonder Voice and your voice comes back higher or lower, converted into five different patterns. Stamp Robo stamps a sheet of paper you feed into it, and the Strange Mirror bends your body out of shape — none of them need reading to work.The earthquake theatre Gurari-kun is not for visitors 120 cm and under, among others, so at this age head for the Challenge Lab and the Vehicle Garage on the 3rd floor instead. The museum asks that no one run indoors and that you stand still on the escalator. The accessible toilets on floors 2 to 4 have a baby chair that holds a child safely seated. Eating in the exhibition rooms is not allowed as a rule, and the museum provides no lunch space in the entrance hall or elsewhere (there is a light-meal restaurant on the 4th floor). Mid-July to late August, during the special exhibition, is especially crowded.
- Ages 4-6The subway simulator runs the real stretch of the Namboku Line from Dainohara to Asahigaoka — the very ride that brought you here, driven by your child. In the Challenge Lab they step inside a giant soap bubble and move ferrofluid with a magnet; at Wonder Tower they carry a ball up a three-metre tower using four different mechanisms; in the Vehicle Garage they sit in a real aircraft and a formula car for photos. Put a hand into Wonder Scan and the bones, blood vessels and muscles appear.With a parent, preschoolers enter free; elementary school children are 210 yen. The earthquake theatre Gurari-kun is not for visitors 120 cm and under, among others, so measure at home and avoid the argument on the day. Staff in orange vests will take science questions. Reckon on one to two hours — a parent visiting on a weekday afternoon spent about an hour, while a parent who has been four or five times with a child from kindergarten to second grade says it usually runs about two. There are many closing days — Mondays (except public holidays), the day after a public holiday, and the fourth Thursday — so check before you go. Last entry is 4 p.m.
By weatherRain, heat, cold
- Rainy dayThe exhibits center on the seven zones of the third floor and the fourth floor, where there is also a restaurant serving light meals. The rock garden and the nature observation trail are outdoors.
- Hot dayNot checked yet
- Cold dayNot checked yet
Time needed1–2 h
How was it with your kids?
Not greatGreat
Family checks✓ easy for your family
- ElevatorElevator：not checked
- Stroller OKStroller friendly：with conditionsconditions
- RentalStroller rental：not checked
- NursingNursing space：with conditionsconditions
- ChangingDiaper changing table：with conditionsconditions
- Diaper binDiaper disposal bin：with conditionsconditions
- Family WCFamily restroom：with conditionsconditions
- Own foodOutside food allowed：not checked
- EnglishEnglish support：not checked
Tap a mark for details
* Other not checked (2)
Indoor / outdoor, 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
Four or five visits between kindergarten and second grade, about two hours each; exhibits are there to touch and work.
Why families come back to Sendai City Science Museum: best from kindergarten to elementary school
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
Near-empty on a weekday and done in an hour: strollers are lent out, and staff let you into the nursing room.
Recommended with children: a visit to the Sendai City Science Museum
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
A five-minute walk from the museum: kids' plate ¥750, and a Miyagi parenting passport gets one free soft drink.
Five minutes from the science museum: a good-value lunch at Keyaki-no-Mori Cafe & Arts, with a free drink for families
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
On a holiday the parking lot can take 30-60 minutes to get into; the quake theater needs 120cm and the simulator age 3.
HOKUSHU Sendai City Science Museum: from what age is it fun, and how crowded does it get?
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
A Thursday in the summer holidays: busy, but with so many exhibits you can move to a free one. Eat before going in.
[Miyagi with kids] Is this an amusement park? A very good day at HOKUSHU Sendai City Science Museum
Sendai City Science Museum · Links & reads ▾
＋ Add a link
Where to go next
For sights
- Yagiyama Zoological ParkZooStroller friendlyNursing spaceDiaper changing table7.0 kmA city zoo with polar bears and African elephants, right outside a subway exit.
- Sendai Umino-Mori AquariumAquariumStroller friendlyNursing spaceDiaper changing table9.0 kmA Sendai aquarium with an outdoor dolphin stadium and a part-open sea-mammal yard.
Where it is
4-1 Dainohara Shinrinkoen, Aoba-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi 981-0903source
Before you go
- As a rule, eating and drinking are not allowed in the exhibit rooms.source
- Most years the busiest stretches are the school-trip season from late April to mid-June and the special exhibition from mid-July to late August.source
- With that day's admission ticket you can step outside and come back in as many times as you like.source
- You are free to take photos of the exhibits and the building.source
- Visitors 120 cm (3 ft 11 in) tall or shorter cannot go into the Gurari-kun earthquake theater, and there are a few other conditions on who can go in.source
Basics
- Fee：Permanent exhibition: ¥550 for adults, ¥320 for high school students, ¥210 for elementary and junior-high students. Pre-school children are free when accompanied by a guardian. Groups of 30 or more pay ¥430 / ¥260 / ¥170. Special exhibitions are charged separately. Children up to junior-high get in free on Children's Day, and everyone gets in free on Culture Day. Payment is cash or cashless on the day only — no coupons, no later transfer. With a same-day ticket you can go in and out as often as you likesource
- Hours：9:00-16:45, last admission 16:00. Closed Mondays (open if it is a public holiday), the day after a public holiday (except Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and the day after the second Monday of October), the fourth Thursday (except public holidays and December), and 28 December to 4 January. It can open or close at short notice — check the official closed-days calendarsource
- Time to allow：1–2 hsource2
- Booking：Groups arrange numbers and a time in advance, though coming without a booking is also possible and may mean waiting if it is busysourceOfficial booking site ↗
Basics in detail (18)
Hours and closures
- It is open from 9:00 to 16:45, and the last entry is at 16:00.source
- It is closed on Mondays, except when the Monday is a public holiday.source
- It also closes the day after a public holiday, unless that day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, or follows the second Monday of October.source
- It also closes on the fourth Thursday of the month, except in December or when that day is a holiday.source
- It is closed from December 28 to January 4.source
Fees
- Admission to the permanent exhibits is 550 yen for adults, 320 yen for high school students, and 210 yen for elementary and junior high school students.source
- Groups of 30 or more pay 430 yen for adults, 260 yen for high school students, and 170 yen for elementary and junior high school students.source
- Preschool-age children get in free when they come with a parent or guardian.source
- Special exhibitions cost extra, separate from the permanent exhibit admission.source
- On Children's Day, admission is free for junior high school students and younger.source
- On Culture Day, admission is free for every visitor.source
- During Tohoku Culture Days, which run from the last Saturday of October to the last Sunday of November, admission is free for junior high school students and younger on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.source
- Show a one-day pass for Sendai city buses and subways, or a Sendai Marugoto Pass, and the permanent exhibits cost the same as the group rate.source
- Payment is cash or cashless on the day of your visit; coupons and later bank transfers are not accepted.source
- Cashless payment covers credit cards, electronic money such as transit IC cards, and code payments.source
Getting there
- The address is 4-1 Dainohara Shinrin Koen, Aoba-ku, Sendai 981-0903, and the phone number is 022-276-2201.source
- It is about a five-minute walk from Asahigaoka Station on the subway Namboku Line, which is roughly a ten-minute ride from Sendai Station.source
- The way from the station has a long staircase; to avoid it with a stroller, leave from East Exit 1 at Asahigaoka Station, which has an elevator.source
Once you've decided
evidence & sources (5)
- Official: Nursing space, Diaper changing table, Diaper disposal bin
- Official: Stroller friendly
- Official: main site
The third floor, remade in 2025, holds seven zones. In Challenge Lab you can stand inside a giant soap bubble or push magnetic fluid about with a magnet. A three-meter tornado machine marks the entrance to the disaster zone, whose theater replays the shaking Sendai recorded in the Tohoku earthquake. The vehicle garage has a real aircraft and a formula car to sit in, plus a subway driving simulator. Upstairs, Miyagi's nature is shown through fossils and specimens you may touch.
| Stroller friendly | Yes | Strollers are lent out — ask at the main reception. Note the walk from Asahigaoka Station includes a long staircase; use East Exit 1, which has an elevator | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | kagakukan.sendai-c.ed.jp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing space | Yes (3) | Nursing rooms on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors — the 3rd and 4th are by the toilets. For the 2nd-floor room (the sick bay) ask at the office or reception | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | kagakukan.sendai-c.ed.jp |
| Diaper changing table | Yes (3) | Baby beds near the wide-access toilets on the 3rd and 4th floors (east side) and by the 2nd-floor toilets / office (west side) | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | kagakukan.sendai-c.ed.jp |
| Diaper disposal bin | Yes | A diaper bin is provided alongside the baby beds | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | kagakukan.sendai-c.ed.jp |
| Family restroom | Yes | 'Hirobiro' wide-access toilets on every floor. Those on floors 2 to 4 have a baby seat to strap a child into safely | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | kagakukan.sendai-c.ed.jp |
| Elevator | Not checked yet | ||||
| Indoor / outdoor | Not checked yet | ||||
| Kids' toilet seat & step stool | Not checked yet | ||||
| English support | Not checked yet | ||||
| Outside food allowed | Not checked yet |
Reviews
Reviews