Ishikawa Insect Museum
Among the largest insect museums on the Japan Sea coast, centered on a subtropical butterfly house.
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Ishikawa Insect Museum
SaveAmong the largest insect museums on the Japan Sea coast, centered on a subtropical butterfly house.
Inside the butterfly house the butterflies are not to be touched, since a torn wing leaves them unable to fly.
MoreWhat kind of place
Ishikawa Prefecture runs this museum in the city of Hakusan, one of the largest insect museums on the Japan Sea side of the country.
The first floor holds four-sided dioramas, terrariums of living insects, and the butterfly house, which recreates a patch of the subtropics.
The second floor covers the insects of Ishikawa and of Mount Hakusan, with books and computers for going deeper.
Some of the insects in the cases are rarely seen anywhere in Japan, among them a diving beetle nicknamed the phantom.
Sources and evidence (14)
- The museum's name is the Ishikawa Insect Museum, and it stands at 3 Inu, Yawata-machi, in the city of Hakusan, Ishikawa.source
- It is one of the largest insect museums on the Japan Sea side of the country.source
- The first-floor exhibition room has four-sided diorama displays, terrariums where you can watch living insects, and the butterfly house, called the Butterfly Garden, which recreates subtropical nature.source
- The second floor has three exhibit corners, starting with Insects of Ishikawa, plus an information corner where books and computers let you dig further into insects.source
- Feature and special exhibitions run through the year, changing with the season.source
- There is a nursing room in the first-floor rest area.source
- Wheelchairs are free to borrow at the entrance as well, again by asking at reception, and again only a few.source
- Ishikawa Prefecture runs the museum, and it is listed under that name in the prefecture's guide to its facilities.source
- It appears in the Ishikawa Odekake Guide from the prefectural public foundation, alongside places such as Notojima Aquarium and Ishikawa Zoo.source
- The Insects of Ishikawa display on the second floor groups the prefecture's best-known insects by the environment they live in and explains them on touchscreens.source
- On display are insects rarely seen anywhere in Japan, including Sharp's diving beetle, nicknamed the phantom diving beetle, and the anchor-marked tiger beetle.source
- The Insects of Mount Hakusan display covers insects closely tied to the mountain across six sub-themes, and Hakusan matters here because it is the westernmost mountain in Japan with an alpine zone.source
- The staff picks corner shows the insects the staff themselves recommend, and the lineup changes about every three months.source
- The official website has a switch to an English page.source
With kidsThe part that matters
The glass door shuts behind you and you are in warm subtropical air, with butterflies drifting past at head height.
A child can stand still and wait for one to settle nearby, but nobody touches them: a torn wing leaves a butterfly unable to fly.
If you have a baby along, ask at the entrance desk for a free stroller — only a few are kept on hand — and you can push it the whole way round, because ramps run through the entire building.
The nursing room is in the first-floor rest area, one of the four places where drinks are allowed, so you can feed the baby and take your break in one stop, between the live insects downstairs and the displays upstairs.
Sources and evidence (3)
- Some 1,000 butterflies of ten species, one with a 15cm span. The outdoor pond holds about 40 insect species.source
- Events run in the first-floor hall and the upstairs corner. You crank the honey spinner yourself and taste it.source
- An outdoor netted room behind the Mushimushi House, 4 June to 16 August 2026. These beetles may be picked up.source
By age0-1 / 2-3 / 4-6
- Ages 0-1In the butterfly house Chou no Sono, built to reproduce subtropical nature, a baby in your arms can follow the butterflies flying right in front of them. The first floor also has terrariums where living insects move about, and a four-sided diorama display.There is a nursing room in the first-floor rest corner. Strollers are lent free at the museum entrance — tell the reception desk (numbers are limited). The building is laid out so that you can go around it by ramp. When you go into the butterfly house, close the glass door properly, or the butterflies escape into the exhibition room. Children under elementary-school age enter free.
- Ages 2-3At this age children walk the butterfly house themselves, chasing the butterflies around the room. The first-floor terrariums have living insects moving inside them, and the second floor's staff's-favourite-insect corner changes about every three months.The butterflies are not to be touched — a torn wing leaves them unable to fly — and the glass of the display cases and specimen boxes is not to be tapped. Drinks may be had in four places: the entrance, the first-floor rest corner, the second-floor rest corner and the information corner; eating in the exhibition corners is asked against. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing (16:30 from April to October, 16:00 from November to March).
- Ages 4-6On the second floor, Insects of Ishikawa arranges the prefecture's representative insects by habitat, with touch panels children work themselves. Rarities on show include the Sharp's diving beetle, called the phantom diving beetle, and the anchor tiger beetle; at the information corner children look them up in books and on computers.Admission is free under elementary-school age, 200 yen for elementary to high-school students and 410 yen for adults. On Children's Day (5 May) and on the 19th of every month, the prefecture's child-raising day, junior-high age and under enter free — the 19th applies to family visits only, and when it falls on a Tuesday the museum is closed. Tuesday is the regular closing day, but the Tuesdays between 20 July and 31 August and during Golden Week are open.
By weatherRain, heat, cold
- Rainy dayThe sights are the first-floor exhibition hall with the “Butterfly Garden” butterfly house and the second-floor exhibit corners, and the building is walkable by ramp.
- Hot dayNot checked yet
- Cold dayNot checked yet
Time needed1.5 h
How was it with your kids?
Not greatGreat
- ElevatorElevator：not checked
- Stroller OKStroller friendly：with conditionsconditions
- RentalStroller rental：not checked
- NursingNursing space：with conditionsconditions
- ChangingDiaper changing table：not checked
- Family WCFamily restroom：not checked
- Own foodOutside food allowed：with conditionsconditions
- EnglishEnglish support：not checked
* Other not checked (9)
Diaper disposal bin, Kids' toilet seat & step stool, Indoor / outdoor, Child switch (rider swap), Official family-friendly certification, Best-fit ages (guide), Crowding (guide), Quietness (guide), Lost-child support
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
Some 1,000 butterflies of ten species, one with a 15cm span. The outdoor pond holds about 40 insect species.
A visit to the Ishikawa Insect Museum: paper kite butterflies, the biotope, and lunch at a cafe families like
Japanese · opens translatedGuide
Events run in the first-floor hall and the upstairs corner. You crank the honey spinner yourself and taste it.
Honey-spinning at the insect museum on Sunday 17 May, alongside the special exhibition on insect mouths
Japanese · opens translatedGuide
An outdoor netted room behind the Mushimushi House, 4 June to 16 August 2026. These beetles may be picked up.
Summer means beetles you can hold: the Beetle Forest opens at the Fureai Insect Museum
Ishikawa Insect Museum · Links & reads ▾
Where it is
Inu 3, Yawatamachi, Hakusan-shi, Ishikawa 920-2113source
Before you go
- You must not touch the butterflies in the Butterfly Garden, because a torn wing leaves them unable to fly.source
- Close the glass door of the Butterfly Garden properly behind you, or butterflies escape into the exhibition room.source
- Do not tap on the glass of the display cases or the specimen boxes.source
- Drinks can only be had in four places: the entrance, the first-floor rest area, the second-floor rest area, and the information corner.source
- Annual passes are not sold from August 11 through August 16, the museum's busiest stretch.source
More notes (3)
- Visitors are asked not to eat in the exhibit areas, with the exception of groups using the hall.source
- A credit card or electronic money payment has to cover the whole amount, so you cannot split part of it in cash, and credit cards are single-payment only.source
- Tickets can be bought on the official site ahead of time with no booking fee, which the museum says makes for a smoother way in.source
Basics
- Fee：410 yen for adults and 200 yen for school students from elementary through high school; children below elementary-school age are free. Groups of 20 or more pay 360 and 150 yen. Three free days are unconditional: under-sixes any day, everyone up to junior high on Children's Day (5 May), and over-65s on Respect for the Aged Day (the third Monday of September). An annual pass is 1,250 yen for adults and 620 yen for school students. Cards work, including UnionPay, along with fifteen kinds of e-money, but a bill has to be settled by one method alone, and e-money cannot be topped up in the building.source
- Hours：9:30-17:00 from April to October and 9:30-16:30 from November to March; last entry is half an hour before closing. Closed every Tuesday - except that a Tuesday falling on a public holiday stays open and the next weekday closes instead, and the Tuesdays in Golden Week and in the summer holiday from 20 July to 31 August are open too. Also closed 29 December to 1 January.source2
- Time to allow：1.5 h
- Booking：Nothing has to be booked. Tickets can be bought in advance through the official online ticket page, with no booking fee, which the museum says makes entry quicker.source
Basics in detail (20)
- Opening hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from April through October, and 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from November through March.source
- Last entry is 30 minutes before closing, meaning 4:30 p.m. from April through October and 4:00 p.m. from November through March.source
- The museum is closed every Tuesday; if that Tuesday is a national holiday it opens as usual and closes on the first weekday afterward instead.source
- It also stays open on Tuesdays during the summer break period from July 20 through August 31 and during Golden Week.source
- It is closed from December 29 through January 1 as well.source
- Admission is 410 yen for adults and 200 yen for elementary, junior high, and high school students, dropping to 360 yen and 150 yen for groups of 20 or more.source
- Children too young for elementary school get in free.source
- On Children's Day, May 5, admission is free for junior high students and younger.source
- On Respect for the Aged Day, the third Monday of September, admission is free for anyone 65 and over.source
- On the 19th of each month, the prefecture's child-rearing day, junior high students and younger get in free when they come as a family, though it does not apply when the 19th falls on a Tuesday and the museum is closed.source
- For holders of the Premium Passport, admission for junior high students and younger is free with the three-or-more-children household version and 100 yen with the two-children household version.source
- People with a physical disability certificate of grade 1, 2, or 3, a therapy certificate of grade A, or a mental health welfare certificate of grade 1 or 2 enter free along with one companion, while other grades are free for the holder alone.source
- An annual pass costs 1,250 yen for adults and 620 yen for elementary through high school students, tax included, and covers as many visits as you like for a year from the day you buy it.source
- Showing the annual pass takes 10% off the 11-ticket playground booklet at Tatsunokuchi Kyuryo Park and off individual admission to the hot spring pool there.source
- You can pay for admission and for anything in the shop by credit card: JCB, Visa, American Express, Mastercard, Diners Club, and UnionPay.source
- Fifteen kinds of electronic money work here: PayPay, Kitaca, Suica, PASMO, TOICA, manaca, ICOCA, SUGOCA, nimoca, Hayakaken, nanaco, Rakuten Edy, WAON, QUICPay, and iD.source
- You cannot add money to an electronic money card inside the museum.source
- The address is 3 Inu, Yawata-machi, Hakusan City, Ishikawa 920-2113, with phone 076-272-3417 and fax 076-273-9970.source
- By train, it is a 20-minute walk from Tsurugi Station on the Hokuriku Railroad Ishikawa Line, also known as the Hakusan Geopark Line.source
- By car from Kanazawa, turn left at the Mitomachi intersection on Route 157 and continue about 1.5 kilometers, roughly a mile, along the Tsurugi bypass.source
Once you've decided
evidence & sources (5)
- Official: Stroller friendly, Nursing space, Steps & slope caution
- Official: Outside food allowed
- Official: main site
Its Japanese name includes the word for touching, yet the butterflies are not to be touched. A torn wing leaves them unable to fly. The first floor holds four diorama walls and terrariums of living insects; the second covers the insects of Ishikawa and of Mount Hakusan. A corner of staff picks changes about every three months. There is a nursing room in the first-floor rest area, and strollers are lent free at the entrance.
| Stroller friendly | Yes | Strollers are lent free at the entrance - ask at the desk, though there are only a few. The galleries can be seen by ramp. Wheelchairs are lent free the same way. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | furekon.jp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diaper changing table | Not checked yet | ||||
| Nursing space | Yes (1) | A nursing room in the first-floor rest corner. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | furekon.jp |
| Family restroom | Not checked yet | ||||
| Diaper disposal bin | Not checked yet | ||||
| Kids' toilet seat & step stool | Not checked yet | ||||
| Elevator | Not checked yet | ||||
| Indoor / outdoor | Not checked yet | ||||
| Outside food allowed | Designated areas only | Eating in the exhibition areas is asked against, except when a group has the hall. Drinks are for the entrance, the first- and second-floor rest corners and the information corner - four places in all. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | furekon.jp |
| English support | Not checked yet | ||||
| Steps & slope caution | Barrier-free | The galleries can be seen by ramp, and wheelchairs are lent free at the entrance. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | furekon.jp |
| Child switch (rider swap) | Not checked yet | ||||
| Stroller access notesExtra info — guide only | Yes | Twenty minutes on foot from Tsurugi station on the Hokuriku Railroad Ishikawa line; by car, from Kanazawa turn left at the Mitomachi junction on Route 157 and carry on about 1.5km along the Tsurugi bypass. Whether there is a parking lot is not stated. Cards including UnionPay and fifteen kinds of e-money are accepted, but one bill takes one payment method, and e-money cannot be topped up here. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | furekon.jp |
| Official family-friendly certificationExtra info — guide only | Not checked yet | ||||
| Best-fit ages (guide)Extra info — guide only | Not checked yet | ||||
| Crowding (guide)Extra info — guide only | Not checked yet | ||||
| Quietness (guide)Extra info — guide only | Not checked yet | ||||
| Lost-child supportExtra info — guide only | Not checked yet |