Rawrr! Another reason I decided to make a detour to Fukui Prefecture was to visit the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum (福井県立恐竜博物館)! I've never seen dinosaur exhibits/fossils/skeletons before, and it's one of the top 3 dinosaur museums in the world.
Brontosaurus in the museum!
As a child, did you ever watch the Land Before Time? It was a series of cartoon movies about dinosaurs and I loved it! At least the first few. After they made more and more it kind of got ridiculous... :/ The main character, Little Foot, was a "long-neck" aka brontosaurus.
As with the other sightseeing attractions in Fukui Prefecture, it's located quite a distance away from Fukui City. Take the Echizen Tetsudou train (750yen one way) from Fukui station to Katsuyama station, the terminal station. It's located in the mountains, hurray! One of the reasons I absolutely adore Chubu and Hokuriku is the mountains/scenery. Mountains, rather than multi-storey buildings in the background.
Anyway, take a community bus from Katsuyama station to the dino museum, it costs 100yen and the schedule for the train/buses can be found here (Japanese only). Red is only on weekends/PH. Take note that the museum is closed every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month.
Entrance fee is 500yen.
Say hello to the yukata-wearing museum mascot, Fukuiraptor-kun~
A real fossil!
T-rex!
The evolution of ancient (short) people!
Fukuisaurus! (Fukuisaurus tetoriensis)
There have been dinosaur species discovered in Kitadani in Katsuyama City (a few kilometers from the museum), and this is one of them! There's also a Fukuiraptor (Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis) and a Fukuititan (Fukuititan nipponensis).
Giant moose!
Its antlers look so huge, doesn't its head/neck ever hurt or feel unbalanced?
Rawrrr!
This dino looks like it has a ducky beak/mouth.
Wool-less woolly mammoth.
Giant turtle.
Ancient fishy dinosaur?
Fossilized school of fish.
Cute pink Fukuiraptor hand towel :)
Say hello to Stef, my new buddy from the museum :)
This is the top of the exterior of the museum, it's built in/on a hill!
Professor Dinosaur (恐竜博士) :)
Sitting on a bench on top of the hill, wearing a lab coat and holding a book.
I had to speedily run down the winding path down the hill cos the bus was coming!
If not I would have loved to spend more quality time with the Prof :P
Pterodactyl on the side of the hill.
Large dinosaur statue looking sad as you leave.
