Despite the fact that visitor centers (VC) in Japan are, in principle, developed as museum and exhibition facility projects, very few studies have dealt with the exhibit of VC. This study deals with the Aso Sanjo visitor center as a case study and aims 1) to clarify the viewing of the exhibits by visitors and the changes in their awareness of the exhibits, and 2) to obtain suggestions for the future design and development of exhibits in the VC. As a result, from the responses to the 144 questionnaires who looked at any of the exhibits at least 10 seconds, it was found that only 7% of respondents saw all 13 exhibits. The median number of exhibits seen was also 5, which is less than half the number of exhibits. The hands-on exhibits ranked first and second in the "exhibits seen" and "most impressive exhibits" categories. Furthermore, the lowest and second-lowest exhibits in the "exhibits seen" category were difficult for visitors to notice. These findings suggest that it may be effective to change the style and location of the exhibits with important contents. In addition, the viewing of specific VC exhibits increased awareness of tourism, disasters, and the environment, either directly or indirectly.
