MUSÉE PRÉFECTORAL DES DINOSAURES DE FUKUI

They're everywhere. They can be found on the square in front of the Fukui train station as well as on the bottles of a famous American soft drink. Dinosaurs are part of everyday life in Fukui Prefecture. And with good reason: one of the three largest dinosaur museums in the world, along with the Tyrell Museum in Canada and the Zigong Museum in China, is just an hour from Fukui City. The Prefectural Dinosaur Museum is an institution for the people of the Prefecture and it is understandable why. The main building, designed as a dinosaur egg, was designed by Kisho Kurokawa. The museum spans 4 floors and more than 30,000 square meters of space in honor of these fascinating beasts. The museography is really superb and a visit to this museum will please a dinosaur enthusiast as much as a simple curious person. And why in Fukui? Skeletons have indeed been discovered in the prefecture, such as, for example, the local species of fukuiraptor, a medium-sized theropod. The museum also houses more than 30 dinosaur specimens, including the best known. There are also English-language directions, making it easier to follow their evolution, but also to learn more about natural history, fauna and flora. The animated dinosaurs (perfectly animated, as in a certain film) punctuate the exploration of the places for our greatest pleasure. The various shops offer a plethora of objects of all kinds on this theme.