Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum

• Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum Exhibits
• Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum Access
• Gifu Museums
• Japan Aviation Museums
• Japan Museums

Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum かかみがはら航空宇宙科学博物館

The Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum (formerly the Kakamigahara Aerospace & Science Museum) is located in Kakamigahara, east of Gifu city.

Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum
Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum

Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum Exhibits

The Kakamigahara Aerospace & Science Museum displays 35 aircraft including fighter jets, transport planes and various helicopters.

Kakamigahara is the location of Japan's second airstrip built in 1917. Japan's first airstrip was in Tokorozawa in Saitama Prefecture where the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum is now an important museum.

The surrounding area was, and continues to be, an important manufacturing base for both military and transport aircraft. During World War II, the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (飛燕, "flying swallow") fighter, was manufactured here.

After World War II, the airstrip was taken over by the US Air Force and became Camp Gifu. Nowadays Kakamigahara airbase is used by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (航空自衛隊, Koku Jieitai), or JASDF making it the oldest existing airforce base in Japan.

Among the aeroplanes on display are experimental planes, V/STOL aircraft and cargo carriers. A section of model aircraft and photo panels introduces the history of aircraft manufacture and design in Japan and such iconic planes as the Mitsubishi Zero and the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien, Japan's fastest World War II aeroplane.

Exhibits are labeled in Japanese and English and include pilot uniforms, panel displays on the history of manned flight from the Wright Brothers and their predecessors on plus original photographs.

Model Zero, Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum

Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum (formerly the Kakamigahara Aerospace & Science Museum, Gifu Prefecture)

The Kakamigahara Aerospace & Science Museum also introduces various rockets connected with Japan's space exploration technology including detail on the H-II rocket and the Mars Exploration Rover.

Larger aircraft are on display in the forecourt outside the museum building with smaller craft inside the main building.

The museum has an interesting shop selling aircraft models, insignia, clothing and various souvenirs. The museum also has a small cafe space.

The Kakamigahara Aerospace & Science Museum closed for renovation at the end of September 2016 and reopened in 2018 as the Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum complete with a modern replica of a Zero fighter and the only original Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien fighter in existence, which was brought to the museum from Chiran Peace Museum For Kamikaze Pilots in Chiran, Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Kyushu.

Helicopter, Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum

Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum (www.sorahaku.net)

5-1 Shimogiricho, Kakamigahara
Gifu Prefecture 504-0924
Tel: 058 386 8500

Admission: 800 yen for adults; 300 yen for junior high school and high school aged children

Hours: 9.30 am-4.30 pm; closed Tuesday or the next day if Tuesday is a public holiday.

Access - how to get to the Kakamigahara Aerospace & Science Museum

From Nagoya Station take a train to either JR Gifu Station or Gifu Meitetsu Station with Meitetsu being the more convenient of the two. From Gifu Meitetsu Station take a train to Kakamigahara-shiyakusho-mae station (about 15 minutes) from where infrequent buses take about 30 minutes to the museum. A taxi takes 20 minutes and costs around 1,700 yen. From Naka Station on the JR line, about 10 minutes from JR Gifu Station, taxis will be more expensive.

Taxi telephone numbers to call:
Gifu Kotsu: 058 382 3221
Nihon Taxi: 058 382 3215
Meitetsu Taxi: 058 371 0112

Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space MuseumTrainer, Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space MuseumJet on display at the museum

Other Japan Airplane Museums

ANA Maintenance Facilities Haneda Airport
Kanoya Air Base Museum
JAL Sky Museum
Tokorozawa Aviation Museum

Aircraft on display, Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum
Helicopters on display at the museum in Gifu Prefecture

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