Bando Kobe Science Museum

Featuring the one and only planetarium in Kobe, the Bando Kobe Youth Science Museum champions the concept of touching, creating, and connecting within a space that lets visitors enjoy educating themselves on the wonders of science and the universe through hands-on exhibitions, workshops, science classes and more. The main hall houses six exhibition rooms as well as attractions like the space-time hopper and hang glider. Another aspect of the museum budding scientists will love is the Science Experiment Show, designed to nurture an interest in science, and Taiyo, a refracting astronomical telescope with a 25-cm aperture that provides daily astronomical observations during which the sun's black spots and other stand-out features can be observed. The ground-floor planetarium, meanwhile, Kobe's "short-cut to the starry sky", features around 25,000 stars projected within a dome 20 m in diameter, with accompanying commentary that all ages can enjoy. All seats also recline. At long last, the 4th and 5th exhibition rooms have been re-opened after renewal.