The home of the Yamato
Just a 5-minute walk from Kure Station, the Yamato Museum is located across from the JMSDF Kure Museum. The city of Kure was a naval port in the prewar era, but after the war, it was responsible for the building of many of the world’s largest tankers, and is known as a city that has contributed to the development of Japan as one of the foremost shipbuilding nations in the world. The Yamato Museum introduces all kinds of scientific technology beginning with Kure’s history, shipbuilding and steelmaking while getting in touch with the lifestyle and culture of the time. It is a popular spot that has attracted over 8 million visitors annually.
Many displays including a 1/10th scale of the Yamato to tell about the war
The highlight of the Yamato Museum is the battleship Yamato. At 1/10th scale, the 26.3m Yamato has been faithfully recreated based on blueprints, photographs, and submersible survey videos. To get so close to the Yamato is a truly spectacular experience. Another highlight is the quantity of the displays. In the Large Objects Exhibition Room, there are relics from the Second World War such as a Zero fighter Type 62 which has been recognized as one of the 33 examples of the Heritage of Modern Industrialization and the human torpedo Kaiten along with outdoor displays such as items that were brought out from the battleship Mutsu and the submersible survey ship Shinkai. All of these relate the horrors of war.
See, learn and try out shipbuilding technology
In the Shipbuilding Technology area on the 3rd floor, visitors can experience the various mysteries of science. Designed so that you can learn and have fun at the same time, you can try out a ship-handling simulator for the operations of a ferry and a high-speed vessel, find out the mechanism behind the floating ability of ships and learn about the differences in ship materials and ship designations. From the Observation Terrace, you can see the munitions factory which was directly under control by the Japanese navy and the remains of the actual dock where the Yamato was built to get that feeling of history.