Aso Volcano Museum

About

Mount Aso, an active volcano, often closes its crater to visitors when eruptions or bad weather make the climb unsafe. In 1982 the bus operator Kyushu Sangyo Kotsu, together with local government, built a museum on the edge of the Kusasenri grassland precisely so the volcano could still be seen on days like that. Management passed to Aso Pharmaceutical in 2004, and the museum is now run by the public-interest Aso Volcano Museum Kuki Cultural Foundation. At the center of the exhibition hall, two cameras feed live footage and sound from the crater onto giant screens, letting visitors watch the volcano's present moment even without climbing it. A large diorama of the caldera, built by Yasuyuki Inoue — the special-effects art director behind the Godzilla films — has become one of the museum's signature pieces; the building itself, designed by Obayashi Corporation, covers 4,248 square meters. A five-screen theater on the third floor shows footage of Aso's nature and local traditions, and the adjoining Music Box Kyowakoku next door displays music boxes gathered from around the world. The museum opens 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with last entry at 4:30, and never closes for a regular holiday.