Over the last two days, I decided to take a solo trip to Fukui Prefecture, one of the 6 prefectures of Japan I had yet to visit. My main two reasons for going were to see the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum and Ono Castle, which appears shrouded in clouds under certain weather conditions. The best time to photograph it is during the fall season so I decided to seize the opportunity in mid-October. Though very rural, Fukui has a rustic charm to it and also has delicious seafood since it is close to Kanazawa. I would recommend coming here after you have explored all of the major cities of Japan and are looking for something different as there is a lot of history here. The dinosaur museum is definitely the major draw for tourism but there are a lot of temples and castles to see too!
Getting to Fukui
Fukui is quite remote from Tokyo, so I flew from Haneda Airport to Komatsu Airport for around 25,000 yen through JAL Airlines then took a local bus to central Fukui. The flight took around one hour, and the bus ride took an additional hour. From Tokyo Station, the trip to Fukui Station is 3.5 hours and costs 15,000 yen one way, so flying is the cheaper option especially if you can book in advance.
While at Fukui Station, I enjoyed seeing all of the dinosaur themed foods, including sushi! Of course the sushi was mackeral flavored and not dinosaur flavored, but they really went hard with the marketing here and I respect the hustle. I treated myself to a crab ekiben which tasted amazing and went outside to see the giant dinosaur at the station square. It sure was a sight to see! Afterwards I decided to head directly to the city’s prized dinosaur museum.
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum
From Fukui Station, I took the local train to Katsuyama where the dinosaur museum was located. On the way there, a the train attendant offered me a discount ticket to the museum which included roundtrip train and/or bus fare. The ticket cost 2600 yen but she subtracted my train ticket expensive from it so I only paid 1900 yen for it. This offer is currently available until the end of the year and I highly recommend it!
I was surprised to find that the dinosaur museum was larger than I expected with 4 floors, 2 cafes, and outdoor parks with large dinosaur models and a safari. There is a huge collection of fossils, dioramas, and skeletons that really do a good job in showing how these magnificent creatures came to life and evolved. My favorite part was the animatronics which looked shockingly realistic:
Out of all of the prefectures in Japan, the most dinosaurs have been unearthed from Fukui, including the Fukuititan! For a full list of everything that has been discovered here, please check out the Katsuyama City website. Additionally, each season a temporary exhibition is held, and during the time I came here it was sea dragon themed. It was really cool to learn that sea dragons actually existed in the form of the Gurifoderuma Kangi that was originally discovered in China. They really put a lot of effort into making their exhibits interactive and appealing to all ages which is why I give this museum a high rating.
Before leaving, I decided to grab a bite at the Saurus Kitchen and Dino Cafe. Both have very similar menus, but I wanted to try the dino pancakes and the tyranno parfait which are exclusive items. I was not disappointed because these two desserts really hit the spot and looked aesthetically pleasing. There’s also dino curry, ramen, and other dishes you can try here. You really can’t go wrong with this menu:
Overall I spent around 1.5 hours at this museum and could see why it was so hyped up. The dinosaur exhibits truly are massive and immerse you in a jurassic world. I have a newfound appreciation for Fukui Prefecture after seeing how much history it has!
Thank you for reading the first part of my Fukui article series. In my next article I will be talking about Ono Castle, more food, and accommodations so please stay tuned!