As you drive towards Katsuyama, a gleaming silver, egg-shaped building appears in the hills - the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. Renowned as one of the world’s top dinosaur museums and the largest in Japan, it draws over a million visitors a year and serves as the nation’s hub for dinosaur research.

The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum is accessible by bus or taxi from Katsuyama Station.

From Tokyo: Take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Fukui Station (3 hours), then transfer to the Echizen Railway to Katsuyama Station (1 hour).

From Osaka: Take the Limited Express Thunderbird to Tsuruga Station (1.5 hours), transfer to the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Fukui Station (20 minutes), then transfer to the Echizen Railway to Katsuyama Station (1 hour).

From Katsuyama Station: Direct bus to the museum (15 minutes). A taxi will get you there slightly faster.

At the main Dinosaur World exhibition space you’ll be greeted by a 3/4-scale Tyrannosaurus Rex robot, which guards the skeletons of 50 dinosaurs, including the locally discovered Fukuiraptor and Fukuisaurus.

The Earth Sciences exhibition tells you all about the Earth and how life came to exist through hands-on displays and videos.

The History of Life exhibition lets you browse fossils and dinosaur models which illustrate the evolution of life. Also on display are the skeletons of several large prehistoric mammals.

On the first floor, you’ll find the Fossil Preparation Lab. Technicians meticulously clean fossils found at the nearby Kitadani Quarry dinosaur research excavation site for research and exhibition. Visitors are free to observe them as they work through the window.

Close by the museum lies the Dino Park — an immersive outdoor zone that brings the age of dinosaurs to life in the very place they once roamed. Walk along scenic trails where life-sized dinosaur models lurk among the trees.

Reservations are required, so be sure to check the official website for the latest details.