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Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

air and space museumKawasaki HienKakamigaharaaviationKibo

Photo: Alan Wilson from Peterborough, Cambs, UK / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · original

Gifu has plenty to see; Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum is worth carving out real time for rather than passing through.

Kakamigahara has been Japan's aircraft town since 1917, when the army put its airfield here, and Kawasaki has built aeroplanes on the site ever since. The museum holds more than fifty real aircraft, helicopters and full-scale spacecraft models — the largest collection of actual airframes in the country.

The headline exhibit is a Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien, the only surviving example in the world, built here. Alongside it are prototypes and one-offs from Japan's postwar aviation industry that exist nowhere else, and a full-size mock-up of Kibo, the Japanese laboratory module of the International Space Station. It is a serious collection presented plainly, ¥800 for adults and free for junior high school age and under, closed on the first Tuesday of the month.

Plan your visit

Time to allow

2–3 hours

Cost

¥800 adults | ¥500 high school students and ages 60 and over | Free for junior high school age and under

Hours

10:00 AM – 5:00 PM weekdays | 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM weekends and holidays | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM weekends and holidays from December to February

Closed: Closed the first Tuesday of the month, or the following weekday when that is a public holiday, except in August | Closed 28 December – 2 January

Best time to visit

Year-round

Getting there

Getting there in detail

From December to February weekends and holidays close at 5:00 PM. Closed on the first Tuesday of the month, or the following weekday when that is a public holiday, except in August when it opens, and 28 December – 2 January. Admission ¥800 for adults, ¥500 for high school students and those aged 60 and over, free for junior high school age and under; group rates for 20 or more.

Beyond the guidebook

**The Hien is the only one left.** A Kawasaki Ki-61, built in this town, the sole survivor worldwide. It is the reason aviation people travel here specifically. **Fifty-plus real airframes.** The largest collection of actual aircraft in Japan, including postwar prototypes that exist in no other collection. **Closed the first Tuesday, not Mondays.** An unusual rest day that catches people out, with an August exception when it opens anyway. **Weekend closing is an hour later.** Six in the evening from March to November, five in the depths of winter. Weekday visits end at five. **Kibo is full size.** The Japanese ISS laboratory module mock-up can be walked through, which is a different proposition from looking at a model of one.

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