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Ibaraki Nature MuseumIbaraki Nature MuseumIbaraki Nature Museum
Photo: Souka Kinmei · CC0

Natural history museum & outdoor park · IbarakiWeb-checked · Aug ’26

Ibaraki Nature Museum

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Dinosaurs move in the exhibit halls, and 39 acres of park start next door.

Out in the park, kids pull off their shoes and jump on a giant trampoline.

More about this place (history, size)

The museum belongs to Ibaraki Prefecture, and the park exists so that whatever the halls explain, you can go outside and look for it. Its far edge is Sugao Marsh, a wetland the grounds run right up against. More than 300 swans winter there from November through February, out on the water in the daytime.

With kids, here's the plan

Ask at the entrance hall for a free stroller as soon as you arrive, because there are only a few and they cannot be reserved. From there, head for the Dinosaur Hall, where children walk in and find the dinosaurs already moving. The baby room for diapers and nursing is in that same hall, and elevators and ramps mean the stroller comes with you. Bring lunch: three of the park's plazas are set aside for eating on the grass, so midday happens outside. Do the halls first and the park after, and be through the gate by two if you want both before the five o'clock close.

Rainy days and each age
  • Rainy day Rain takes the park half off the table, so a wet visit is the halls alone and ends earlier. Umbrellas cannot go inside the halls, so a raincoat leaves your hands free for the stroller. Eating on the grass is out, so lunch is the restaurant, or the Seminar House, where one family ate the lunch they brought.
  • Ages 0-1 One family who came with a one-year-old wrote that the trampoline worked even at that age, once the shoes came off. Out on the Lawn Plaza you can set a baby down on the grass instead of carrying them all day.The nursing spot is screened only by a partition, one family wrote, so bring a cover if you want more than that. Pack a carrier as backup, in case the loaners are gone by the time you get there.
  • Ages 2-3 On the Yume Plaza, hands-on stations let a two-year-old act out how animals and birds move, with no reading involved. Water runs in the stream and fountain on the Water Plaza from about June through September, and is off the rest of the year.Two families wrote that the moving dinosaurs scared their two-year-old, so if yours cries in the first hall, make it a park day instead. Shoes that slip on and off save a struggle at the trampoline.
  • Ages 4-6 Pocket Curator, the exhibit guide, has a web version you can open at home, so a five-year-old picks what to see before you leave. The submarine exhibit takes nine at a time, so expect a short line; one family waited about ten minutes.Nothing on the grounds can be collected, and nets, bug cages, tents and chairs are all turned away at the door. Settle it at home that this is a day for finding things, not catching them.
Sources and evidence (7)
  • Children not yet in school enter free.■2026-08-20
  • Every Saturday, elementary, junior high and high school students enter free (except during the long spring, summer and winter school holidays).■2026-08-20
  • Weekends and Obon can need a timed slot. Free strollers are few, so come early. Their 2-year-old feared the dinosaurs.■Parents' visit reports · 2026
  • Shoes off for the giant trampoline. One child cried at the moving dinosaurs at two, then was transfixed at three.■Parents' visit reports · 2025
  • You can bring lunch and eat it at the seminar house or the outdoor tables. Figure two hours inside, one outdoors.■Parents' visit reports · 2024
  • From Moriya a 1DAY pass covers the round trip, bought on board. Weekends add a direct bus, about 33 minutes.■Parents' visit reports · 2023
  • The marsh beside the museum grounds draws over 300 swans from November to February; they are away at dawn and dusk.■Parents' visit reports · 2024
Family checks

Green = we confirmed it. Gray = not checked yet. Gray with a line through = the place does not have it.

Stroller OK■

Nursing■

Changing■

… show all 10
Elevator There are elevators and ramps inside the main building, and ramps outdoors in the park as well.■
Stroller OKStroller friendly: Strollers are lent free of charge — ask at the reception in the entrance hall. They cannot be reserved, so you get one only if one is free.■
See details (1)
  • Strollers and wheelchairs are lent out at the entrance hall (museum notice of 2025-12-11).■2026-08-20
RentalStroller rental: Free, from the entrance hall, no reservation possible. Wheelchairs are lent from the same desk — ten of them, also free and not reservable.■
See details (1)
  • Strollers and wheelchairs are lent out at the entrance hall (museum notice of 2025-12-11).■2026-08-20
Nursing One baby room, in the Dinosaur Hall, for both nursing and diaper changes. A women-only cubicle plus a space men can use.■
ChangingDiaper changing table: In the baby room in the Dinosaur Hall. It has a women-only cubicle and a separate space that men can use as well.■
Family WCFamily restroom: Multi-purpose toilets indoors, one of them with ostomate facilities, and more outdoors in the park. Whether they have a baby seat is not stated.■
Own foodOutside food allowed: Bring a packed lunch and eat it outdoors — the Kaboku (flowering tree) lawn, the grass lawn and the Sun lawn are all named as places to eat.■
Show all 3 checks
Indoor / outdoor: The main building is indoors; the outdoor park is 15.8 hectares of open ground, and takes walking time of its own. A separate, cheaper ticket covers the outdoor park alone.■
Best-fit ages (guide): Pre-school children get in free, and elementary, junior high and high school students are free every Saturday outside the long school holidays. Outdoors, the Yume lawn has a hands-on installation where children act out how animals and birds live. The stream and fountain in the Water lawn only run from about June to about September. Nothing may be collected — no insects or plants — and nets and bug cages cannot be brought in, nor can water pistols, ride-on toys, tents, chairs, four-wheeled carts or pets. Umbrellas cannot go into the exhibition rooms.■■
Stroller access notes: Parking is free, 1,000 spaces for cars. By train and bus the buses are thin: from stand 1 at the west exit of Moriya station on the Tsukuba Express, take the Kanto Railway bus for Iwai Bus Terminal, ride about 30 minutes, get off at Shizen Hakubutsukan-iriguchi and walk about 10 minutes — but there are only about three or four buses a day. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays three buses a day run into the museum grounds. A Kantetsu bus 1DAY pass, ¥500 for an adult and ¥250 for a child, covers the return trip and gets you in at the group rate; it is sold on board. Do not take the bus for Uchimoriya Kogyo Danchi — it does not come to the museum. From Atago station on the Tobu Urban Park Line, the Ibaraki Kyuko bus for Iwai Shako takes about 15 minutes and then it is about a 15-minute walk, with roughly one bus an hour. If you have a wheelchair or a lot to carry, say so at the group reception and you can enter from beside the Seminar House.■■

Worth a look before you go

Book on the official sitenat.museum.ibk.ed.jp ↗

Near here

700 Osaki, Bando-shi, Ibaraki 306-0622■

Before you go

Basics

Basics in detail (7)
Hours and closures
  • It is open 9:30 to 17:00, and the last entry is 16:30.■2026-08-20
Getting there
  • From platform 1 at the west exit of Moriya Station on the Tsukuba Express, take the Kanto Railway bus bound for Iwai Bus Terminal about 30 minutes, get off at Shizen Hakubutsukan Iriguchi and walk about 10 minutes (only about three or four buses a day).■2026-08-20
  • On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, three buses a day run all the way into the museum.■2026-08-20
  • The Kantetsu bus 1DAY pass is 500 yen for adults and 250 yen for children, covers the round trip and gets you in at the group rate, and can be bought on the bus.■2026-08-20
  • The bus bound for Uchimoriya Kogyo Danchi also leaves from Moriya Station but does not come to the museum.■2026-08-20
  • From Atago Station on the Tobu Urban Park Line it is about 15 minutes on the Ibaraki Kyuko bus bound for Iwai Shako plus about a 15-minute walk, and that bus runs roughly once an hour.■2026-08-20
  • If you have a wheelchair or luggage, tell the group reception desk and you can enter from beside the Seminar House.■2026-08-20

Once you've decided

See places nearby

The halls and the park are two different visits, and one ticket covers both. Inside stand a T. rex, a whale and a gorilla, all under one roof. Outside there are paths and open grass, and it takes an hour on top of the two you spend in the halls. Getting there is the catch: the bus from the Tsukuba Express station runs three or four times a day. Parking is free if you drive.

Stroller friendlyYesStrollers are lent free of charge — ask at the reception in the entrance hall. They cannot be reserved, so you get one only if one is free.Web-checkedchecked Aug ’26nat.museum.ibk.ed.jp
Stroller rentalYesFree, from the entrance hall, no reservation possible. Wheelchairs are lent from the same desk — ten of them, also free and not reservable.Web-checkedchecked Aug ’26nat.museum.ibk.ed.jp
Diaper changing tableYesIn the baby room in the Dinosaur Hall. It has a women-only cubicle and a separate space that men can use as well.Web-checkedchecked Aug ’26nat.museum.ibk.ed.jp
Nursing spaceYes (1)One baby room, in the Dinosaur Hall, for both nursing and diaper changes. A women-only cubicle plus a space men can use.Web-checkedchecked Aug ’26nat.museum.ibk.ed.jp
Family restroomYesMulti-purpose toilets indoors, one of them with ostomate facilities, and more outdoors in the park. Whether they have a baby seat is not stated.Web-checkedchecked Aug ’26nat.museum.ibk.ed.jp
ElevatorYesThere are elevators and ramps inside the main building, and ramps outdoors in the park as well.Web-checkedchecked Aug ’26nat.museum.ibk.ed.jp
Indoor / outdoorIndoor & outdoorThe main building is indoors; the outdoor park is 15.8 hectares of open ground, and takes walking time of its own. A separate, cheaper ticket covers the outdoor park alone.Web-checkedchecked Aug ’26nat.museum.ibk.ed.jp
Outside food allowedYesBring a packed lunch and eat it outdoors — the Kaboku (flowering tree) lawn, the grass lawn and the Sun lawn are all named as places to eat.Web-checkedchecked Aug ’26nat.museum.ibk.ed.jp
Best-fit ages (guide)Extra info — guide onlyYesPre-school children get in free, and elementary, junior high and high school students are free every Saturday outside the long school holidays. Outdoors, the Yume lawn has a hands-on installation where children act out how animals and birds live. The stream and fountain in the Water lawn only run from about June to about September. Nothing may be collected — no insects or plants — and nets and bug cages cannot be brought in, nor can water pistols, ride-on toys, tents, chairs, four-wheeled carts or pets. Umbrellas cannot go into the exhibition rooms.Web-checkedchecked Aug ’26nat.museum.ibk.ed.jpnat.museum.ibk.ed.jpnat.museum.ibk.ed.jp
Stroller access notesExtra info — guide onlyYesParking is free, 1,000 spaces for cars. By train and bus the buses are thin: from stand 1 at the west exit of Moriya station on the Tsukuba Express, take the Kanto Railway bus for Iwai Bus Terminal, ride about 30 minutes, get off at Shizen Hakubutsukan-iriguchi and walk about 10 minutes — but there are only about three or four buses a day. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays three buses a day run into the museum grounds. A Kantetsu bus 1DAY pass, ¥500 for an adult and ¥250 for a child, covers the return trip and gets you in at the group rate; it is sold on board. Do not take the bus for Uchimoriya Kogyo Danchi — it does not come to the museum. From Atago station on the Tobu Urban Park Line, the Ibaraki Kyuko bus for Iwai Shako takes about 15 minutes and then it is about a 15-minute walk, with roughly one bus an hour. If you have a wheelchair or a lot to carry, say so at the group reception and you can enter from beside the Seminar House.Web-checkedchecked Aug ’26nat.museum.ibk.ed.jpnat.museum.ibk.ed.jpnat.museum.ibk.ed.jp
Diaper disposal binNot checked yet
Kids' toilet seat & step stoolNot checked yet
English supportNot checked yet
Child switch (rider swap)Not checked yet
Steps & slope cautionNot checked yet
Crowding (guide)Extra info — guide onlyNot checked yet
Quietness (guide)Extra info — guide onlyNot checked yet
Lost-child supportExtra info — guide onlyNot checked yet
Official family-friendly certificationExtra info — guide onlyNot checked yet

Information changes — check the dates above.

Not checked yet (6)

Child switch (rider swap), Steps & slope caution, Crowding (guide), Quietness (guide), Lost-child support, Official family-friendly certification

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