Permanent Exhibits

Prologue - Jade Gorge

　Visitors are greeted by massive boulders of raw jade like those found in the Kotakigawa and Omigawa Jade Gorges. The largest of these boulders are 7 tons! A projector plays videos and sounds of these two beautiful natural wonders.

Exhibit #1 - Fascinating Jade

　Marvel at the beauty and variety of Itoigawa’s oldest stone, jade. This room houses the museum’s extensive collection of jade pebbles and rocks found along Itoigawa’s rivers and coast.

Exhibit #2 - Itoigawa’s Continental Era

　Learn about the history and science of jade, metamorphic rocks and limestone which formed as Itoigawa was still connected to the Asian continent. Make sure to look above you!

Exhibit #3 - Birth of the Japanese Islands

　This room explains the phenomenon which gives the museum its name: The Fossa Magna. Learn how this massive rift cleaved the Japanese Islands in two as they were separating from the Asian continent while dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. This exhibit also houses a collection of artifacts related to Dr. Edmund Naumann, the German geologist who first introduced modern Geology to Japan and discovered the Fossa Magna.

　Two massive 200 inch screens on the wall and floor show a dramatic video explaining what the Fossa Magna is and how it helped create the Japanese Islands we see today.

Exhibit #4 - Our Changing Land

　Discover how our land continues to move and change around us, even now in the Age of Man. Learn about Itoigawa’s earthquakes, volcanoes and the awe-inspiring karst landscapes and vertical caverns of Maikomidaira.
　There are also exhibits about how we benefit from and make use of the land around us. Learn about the bountiful natural resources which continue to be mined today and about the beautiful mountain trails enjoyed by thousands each year, including the daunting Tsugami Shindo Geotrail.

Exhibit #5 - Fascinating Fossils

　This room houses the museum’s large collection of fossils gathered from all over Japan and the entire world.

Exhibit #6 - Fascinating Minerals

　Marvel at the many different shapes and colors of minerals, ores, stones and more collected from throughout Japan and all over the world.

Geopark Information Corner

　Itoigawa was designated Japan’s first UNESCO Global Geopark in 2009. Be sure to visit this information corner to learn more about the Geopark and plan the rest of your visit!

Museum Corridor

　The corridor between the admission desk and the exhibits is lined with glass walls so visitors can enjoy the stone garden.

Stone Garden

　The Fossa Magna Museum’s central garden is a beautiful stone garden, featuring a large stone map of the Japanese Islands and the Fossa Magna. This map is incorporated into a massive sundial, with numbers made of raw jade stones.