Go back in time to the Ice Age 20,000 years ago!　Tomizawa Ruins Preservation Museum, Sendai City

  • Miyagi
  • Sightseeing
Underground Forest Museum (underground exhibition room)

～About the Underground Forest Museum

Underground Forest Museum (exterior)
The Tomizawa Ruins Preservation Museum "Chizo-no-Mori Museum" is a theme museum focusing on the Paleolithic Age, and was opened on November 2, 1996. The museum preserves and exhibits the remains excavated from the Tomizawa Ruins 20,000 years ago (Paleolithic Era) on site and brings back to life the environment and human activities of that time through the materials discovered and other exhibits.
At the Tomizawa Site, when a preliminary survey was conducted in 1987-1988 for the construction of an elementary school, the remains of rice paddies from the Early Modern, Medieval, Heian, Kofun, and Yayoi periods, soil (peat layer) with well-preserved plant roots and stems, and, beneath it, holes and fallen trees from the Jomon period were discovered. In addition, from 2m below (about 5m below the present ground level), the remains of a forest and the activity of people who lived in the Paleolithic Era about 20,000 years ago were discovered together. In order to preserve and exhibit the remains in their original state, they decided to move the elementary school where they had planned to build the museum to another location and construct the Underground Forest Museum.

~Let's learn about the lives of people in the Paleolithic Age! ～The work of the hunters

Basement Exhibition Hall

Underground Exhibition Room
The entrance court is located down the stairs from the building entrance. Enter the building and purchase an admission ticket at the reception desk on the left. After purchasing the ticket and going straight down the passageway from the next entrance, you will see the underground exhibition hall with its vast ruins.
The large number of black roots spreading all around in front of you are "buried forests" that were buried in the soil 5 meters thick and miraculously remained unrotted for 20,000 years, cut off from the air!
These trees are conifers, mostly gui pine and the extinct Tomizawa spruce, which today grow in cold regions such as northern Hokkaido and southern Sakhalin.
In order to preserve and exhibit the 20,000-year-old ruins as they were excavated, the building's exterior walls were thickened to minimize the effects of groundwater, and the trees The water in the trees is converted into a special chemical that prevents decay and restores the original color.
In the underground exhibition room, visitors can see the remains of a 20,000-year-old forest discovered 5 m underground in its original form, deer droppings, the remains of a Paleolithic camp at a slightly higher elevation, and a movie that reconstructs people's lives 20,000 years ago, based on the results of excavation surveys.
During the light hours, visitors can take a good look at the ruins, and during the dark hours, they can watch a 3-minute slide show and a 7-minute film that reconstructs the same scenery and human activities as in those days, allowing them to enjoy seeing how people lived during the Paleolithic Age. The museum is located in the basement of the building.

Permanent Exhibition Room on the 1st floor

Permanent Exhibition Room on the 1st floor
On the way up the slope and stairs from the underground exhibition room to the permanent exhibition room on the first floor, several excavated artifacts are displayed, and the permanent exhibition room introduces the remains, animals, and plants found approximately 20,000 years ago. Here, "Dr. Tomizawa Hakase," the character of the Underground Forest Museum, explains what he has learned from the excavation in a way that is easy for children to understand, solving riddles in a Q&A style.

Open-air exhibition "Ice Age Forest"★★Open-air exhibition "Ice Age Forest"★★Open-air exhibition "Ice Age Forest"★

Open-air exhibition "Ice Age Forest" * Open-air exhibition "Ice Age Forest" * Open-air exhibition "Ice Age Forest

Outside the building is the outdoor exhibition "Ice Age Forest," which reconstructs the forest that spread over Tomizawa during the Ice Age 20,000 years ago. Trees similar to the extinct Tomizawa spruce, such as red spruce, white spruce, Japanese white birch, alder, and hazel, can be seen, while the surrounding grassland is planted with Japanese larch and white lemon grass, sedge, Japanese knotweed, and Asian skunk-cabbage are in the wetlands, and a pond with Japanese knotweed has been planted. The ponds are planted with Japanese box elder, Japanese box elder, and Asian skunk-cabbage.
A walking trail has been established within the "Ice Age Forest," where visitors can observe seasonal flowers, plants, and insects up close, making it a great place to take the kids for a leisurely stroll and spend time getting in touch with nature on a sunny day!

Museum Theater "The hunters are here! and is ★

Hunters at work
At the Underground Forest Museum, hunters from 20,000 years ago (Paleolithic Era) sometimes appear beyond time and space.
The hunters appear inside and outside the museum to take a break from hunting and communicate with visitors. What tools do they use and what kind of work do they do? If you are lucky enough to meet a hunter, you are very lucky!
We invite you to observe what they do and communicate with them!

~Let's learn more about history by touching on life in the Jomon Period! ～Let's learn more about the history of the Jomon Period!

The Underground Forest Museum is a place where visitors can enjoy learning about the lives of people who lived in the Paleolithic Era and vegetation through solving scientific riddles.
The "Sendai Jomon-no Mori Plaza" at the sibling museum is a place you should stop by together when you visit Sendai for sightseeing!
This facility was built to preserve and utilize the Yamada Uenodai Ruins, where a Jomon village existed approximately 4,000 years ago, as a place where visitors can enjoy and experience the lifestyle of the Jomon people. Visitors can learn about the spirit, wisdom, and lifestyle of the Jomon people through hands-on Jomon experiences such as making earthenware and clay pots.
Both facilities have many events, and through these events, both adults and children can enjoy learning about the wisdom and lifestyle of the people who lived in that time period. How about making this your holiday spot?
Check the official website as well as Facebook for the latest information on the content of hands-on events!
Underground Forest Museum Official Website
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