Osaka Science Museum

The Osaka Science Museum (大阪市立科学館, Osaka Municipal Science Museum) is located on Nakanoshima Island in central Osaka, between the Dōjima and Tosabori Rivers, in Kita-ku. Its central theme is “Space and Energy”, and the museum’s mission is to encourage a “culture of enjoying science” by offering interactive exhibits and hands-on experiences that let visitors explore scientific phenomena in an engaging way. ⸻ History and Management The current museum opened in 1989 to celebrate the centennial of the city of Osaka. However, its roots go back to 1937, when the city opened the “Osaka City Electricity Science Museum,” which was Japan’s very first science museum and home to the country’s first planetarium. The present-day museum was partly funded by a donation of 6.5 billion yen from the Kansai Electric Power Company, and the building was designed and constructed by Takenaka Corporation. Today, the museum is run as a municipal facility, under the direct management of the City of Osaka. ⸻ Layout and Floors The museum consists of four main exhibition floors, with a planetarium located in the basement. The recommended route begins on the top floor and gradually descends floor by floor. In total, the building covers about 8,920 square meters, and the museum houses around 200 scientific exhibits and interactive installations. On the fourth floor, visitors will find exhibits focusing on the universe, astronomy, and scientific discovery. This area highlights the planets, stars, and the history of scientific progress related to space. The third floor is dedicated to familiar chemistry. Here, exhibits showcase different materials such as metals, plastics, fibers, and medicines. Many of these are presented in ways that allow visitors to observe, touch, or even smell, making the experience highly interactive. The second floor is designed as the “Enjoy Science” space. This floor is filled with playful exhibits such as magical mirrors, suspended balls floating in streams of air, transparent pianos, echo tubes, and experiments with light, sound, and motion. While these displays are geared toward children, they are entertaining and educational for all ages. The first floor focuses on electricity and energy. Exhibits explain how energy is generated and used, with hands-on sections where visitors can, for example, generate electricity manually by pedaling a bike. This floor introduces the principles of power and its role in everyday life. Additionally, live Science Shows are held on the third floor at set times throughout the day, where staff members conduct fun experiments for audiences. ⸻ Planetarium The museum’s planetarium is located in the basement. It features a massive 26.5-meter dome screen used to recreate the night sky in astonishing detail. It was modernized in 2004 with advanced projection technology. Each show runs for about 45 minutes. Narration is primarily in Japanese, but the visual experience can still be enjoyed by non-speakers. Tickets for the planetarium are sold separately from the main exhibition admission, and they tend to sell out quickly on weekends, so early booking is recommended. ⸻ Famous Exhibits and Collections The Osaka Science Museum is known for several remarkable exhibits. Among its treasures is the Carl Zeiss II planetarium projector, an iconic piece of equipment that played a historic role in the development of astronomy education in Japan. Another notable item is the Cockcroft–Walton accelerator, an early type of particle accelerator. The museum also houses a replica of Gakutensoku, Asia’s very first humanoid robot, which moves for a few seconds every hour using compressed air. In addition, the history of science section includes antique measuring instruments, early electrical devices, and rare publications. Interactive exhibits throughout the museum cover a wide variety of topics including energy, electricity, light, sound, and motion, offering visitors a chance to learn scientific principles through direct engagement.

This Museum is extraordinary fantastic and costs only 400 Yen. You may test a lot of experiments from producing energy yourself, to music, magnetic effects, looking how ultraviolett rays change your view of life, a robot WHO solves the Kubrick Cube ..

My friend and I had a lot of fun here! It was also a welcome escape from the intense heat that day. The museum is well laid out, having visitors start at the top floor and work their way down. Every level has a different focus. I liked that exhibits were good at appealing to all ages. Crowds were reasonable. Not too crazy. The museum was easy to access using public transit. There were bathrooms and water fountains on every floor. The whole museum was very clean. Staff was great. The cafe didn't appear to have any vegan options. The gift shop was also limited. I didn't see any shirts for sale which surprised me. The planetarium show was cool. No English but that's ok. Most of the other aspects of the museum had English translations available. I would recommend this stop to others and I would go back.

The interior of the museum shows an intriguing glimpse into the history and evolution of technology but leaves room for improvement. The exhibits typically showcase a mix of vintage computers, interactive installations, and multimedia displays that highlight milestones in computing, from early mechanical devices to modern-day innovations like AI and robotics. Despite its flaws, the museum succeeds in celebrating the creativity and innovation behind computing, making it an enjoyable visit for tech enthusiasts and casual visitors alike. With a bit more modernization, it could easily rise to a higher rating. The museum was abit boring and lacked interesting points for above 13 to 18. so 3.5/5 but no 3/5.

Very cool museum about science with a lot of interactivity. It will especially be a joy to children and many of them were visiting beside me and enjoying their time very much. I was worried at first for the language but a lot of the panels have a qr code that offers translated content in multiple languages. However, their temporary exhibitions and shows were not translated, so be wary about that. I don't know how often their exhibition rotates but I recommend going at least once.

Science Museum that has everything explains and demonstrates, very easy to understand. They have a wide range of science as well, from the very basic knowledge to the very advanced one, but rest assured, everything was demonstraded in a very easy to understand manner. There are a lot of children (of course!), and might get a bit noisy, but that is just how children are. This place just shows that science is not boring. Highly recommend bringing your kids here. Very good experience, worth all the money.

Incredible science centre. Multiple floors of informative displays and countless of them are interactive too which meant the kids had a great time. As a science teacher I was thoroughly impressed. Tickets were cheap too

Small but interesting as they have many engaging items.. children up to middle school r free, 2 adults entry + planetarium + 2 kids planetarium tix cost 2.6k yen. The science show is free and interesting too, recommended!!

Nice museum, young kids enjoy it very much, though the hardware is kind of old but still the design and interaction is well designed. We came on Saturday but not many people and staff are very nice.

Tried to find something to do on our last half day in Osaka before we headed to the airport. Noticed this place had a discount for students so I headed here with my mom. It's a 4 story building, very minimal workers and almost empty on a weekday. You ride to the top on an elevator and work your way down. Everything is in Japanese so as far as understanding everything, you've gotta base it on visuals. One of the floors is very interactive and I would say fun for kids - a little dirty in my opinion though, would be nice if they had antibacterial sanitizer on that floor. Other than that it's a cool place to visit, but I wouldn't go out of your way to do so.

My kind of museum. Every November Kansai celebrates Art's Month and museums around Kansai have one designated day that are free entry ( except special exhibitions ) and during this time I always find myself visiting the Science Museum. I love this place. Unlike any other museum, you can actually touch and feel the displays and do some testing. Makes you remember your elementary and high school days where you are doing Science Project. Majority of the display are of course labelled in Japanese but you get the idea what it is after trying it. November is only a few months away, it's about time to visit the Science Museum again.

This place is awesome. 400yen per adult, kids under high school are free. Four floors of things to look at. Second floor is the fun are with all the activities for kids related to science. Lots of tired parents but fun for kids.

Well, I'm a planetarium enthusiast, and this Osaka Science Museum had been the best favorite planetarium before the launch of Mega Star. The planetarium is a classical electromechanical one made by Konica-Minolta. They also exhibit their first, and Asia's first, planetarium made by Carl-Zeiss in Germany. プラネタリウムマニアの僕が大好きなミノルタ（現コニカミノルタ）の単球式プラネタリウムが稼働しており，廊下にはアジア初のプラネタリウムだったカールツァイス製の二球式の展示がある．

Four floors, a good experience to take kids to with a lot of hands on items. There is a variety of things to see, yet you'll be done within an hour not counting the planetarium which is 45 mins. Not a lot English explanations throughout the museum as well. All in all it's an ok museum.

I like planetarium. I have been to the planetarium three times. All of them I got a pair of tickets. When I came here for the second time, I happened to know that the event called the Tenchi Meisatsu (heaven and earth discernment) night would be held with a poster and I applied at once. Then I was elected and went to see the event with my husband. Tenchi Meisatsu is a novel of Shibukawa Shunkai who was a go player as well as an official astronomer. He revised the lunisolar calendar and drew up Yamato calendar through many hardships. Later it was adopted as a movie. Anyway the event here was a collaboration of a planetarium and Yokyoku by Ms. H.K. The staff member of the science museum explained constellations in detail. We looked at the vast artificial heavenly body with sparkling stars. Ms. H.K told the cream of the story. Her soft voice and song matched the romantic astronomical observation. We were wrapped in a romantic and fantastic atmosphere. Not only children but also adults enjoy this science museum. It is stylish and sophisticated. It is just the place to go on a date for couples, too.

The Osaka Science Museum is an awesome place to take young children to in order to expand their minds and interests in science. The four floors all provide wonderful materials for their viewers about Chemistry and Biology that help little minds become even more curious about the world. There is also a science show held 3 times a day but sadly this does not provide English or other language options. It would be nice to share this exhibit with young tourists from abroad as well as Japanese children together.