These photographs show the exhibition room, collections, library corner, and auditorium of the Osaka Museum of Natural History, which is one of Japan's leading regional natural history museums and exemplifies the concept of natural history museums as cultural facilities. The basic activities of a natural history museum are to continually collect, organize, and store specimens and materials related to nature, as well as to conduct research and share the results of their work with society at large through research presentations, exhibitions, and outreach activities. Whereas museum exhibits generally tend to attract the most attention, less is known about the vast number of valuable specimens and materials not on display that are stored in collections out of the public eye. These objects have been collected continuously over many years and are irreplaceable evidence of a region's natural environment. They have been collected, organized, and studied with the cooperation of not only museum staff but also people associated with the museum, and these activities will continue for the foreseeable future. The role of natural history museums as cultural facilities is to utilize their facilities and equipment for promoting the dissemination of natural history science based on the specimens and materials under their stewardship.

Photo credit: Osaka Museum of Natural History (https://www.omnh.jp/ [Cited 2025/1/10])

(Shigeko HARUYAMA, Yasuji SAITO and Daiji HIRATA)

 There are more than 5,700 museum facilities in Japan. The types of museum are wide-ranging. They include general museums, which cover nature, history, culture, and art, as well as art museums, natural science museums, zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens. The entities establishing them are also diverse. They include both public and private sectors, and encompass independent administrative agencies, universities, companies, public interest corporations, and individuals. These museums face common and individual challenges. The Science Council of Japan has been discussing the current situation and problems of museums in Japan. As a result, it has drafted a future vision for museums, which indicates the directions museums should follow to fulfill their public responsibilities, and has issued recommendations, opinions, and reports on solving problems. In 2022, the Museum Act in Japan was revised to indicate the future directions of Japanese museums. The Science Council of Japan takes the view that careful responses are necessary considering the current situations of museums. It also held a public symposium focusing on natural history museums entitled “Considering Natural History Museums as Cultural Facilities.” The contents of the symposium included discussions on issues facing Japan's natural history museums, such as operating budgets, staff structures, research structures, material collection and storage structures, reductions of storage spaces, specimen material management structures, disclosing large volumes of specimen data, updating exhibits, comprehensive systems for users, and responses to revised laws.

 As a researcher of paleontology and marine biology, i.e., natural history, I notice striking differences between natural history museums in the United States and Europe and those in Japan. In common with foreign natural history museums, basic tasks, such collecting specimens and conducting related research, should be done in Japanese natural history museums in order to keep the museums energetic and to support the future of natural history. Have recent government revisions to the Museum Act contributed to the future of natural history museums? Natural history museums can serve as cultural centers for their localities. Therefore, there should be increased involvement and contributions by local governments, national government, and general public to natural history museums, especially to support their basic functions.

 The philosophies and policies of natural history museums in Japan are examined within the context of their future development. To provide the basis for a future plan covering natural history museums in Japan, the situation of museums in the 1990s is reviewed to understand their current status. In the 1990s, when a period of high economic growth ended and academia appeared to be shrinking, many large public natural history museums opened in Japan, and some university museums were established. Museums, however, which were positioned within the administrative structure and did not acquire academic autonomy, could not be managed based on the initiatives of academics, and their expansion was stalled. Museums continued to suffer from low-quality management, research, and education. The National Science Museum, Tokyo and many other public museums made various plans with academic communities to develop research and social education, and to overcome their stagnation. In the 1990s, the museums tried to break away from bureaucratic control, raise research standards, and refine education as their main goals. Unfortunately, 30 years later, many of the museums' ideas and measures have not yet been realized. Excessive economic rationalism, which emerged against the background of Japan's declining national power and a mentally exhausted society, prevents museums and basic science from developing. Based on an understanding of the current status of society, philosophies and ideas on which to base the future development of natural history museums need to be proposed.

 The basic requirements of a museum are staff (curators), materials (specimens), and buildings. When it opens, a museum's activities are affected by the numbers of curators, museum materials, building area, and storage facilities. Research activities involving museum materials are based on training in specialized fields and compliance with related laws and regulations. To obtain certification as a curator to work immediately, students are required to complete courses in the natural sciences and humanities. In order to make it mandatory for natural history materials, including fossil specimens, held in museums and universities to be stored and managed continuously, it is necessary to create additional provisions in the Cultural Properties Protection Act.

 Many Natural History specimens stored in museums are research materials produced by academic scientists and citizen scientists. They are also future research resources for both re-examining studies and applying new scientific approaches and technologies. The specimens sometimes have value as cultural resources for use in museum exhibitions and various activities. Examples of applications of Dr. T. Hongo's mycological collections and other collections are presented. Local natural history museums, as they need to contribute to local communities, have to utilize natural history materials not only as research resources but also as cultural resources, in order to promote research and exhibitions, education, and local development. Nevertheless, they are fundamentally related to research activities. Universities are important sources of natural history materials. However, because it has become difficult to conserve them within universities, there is the issue of how to conserve materials for the academic community in the future. Museums need to be positioned within the academic system to conserve research resources, and to promote public participation and understanding. Museums also need to be positioned within appropriate policies, not only related to science, but also to promoting culture and education.

 The current status and problems of natural history specimens in university collections are discussed. Focusing on solid Earth science specimens (such as rocks, minerals, and fossils), the current status of academic specimens listed in the Compendium of Natural History University Collections published by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in 1981 is surveyed. The survey reveals that, by 2019, about 60 percent of the approximately 26 million specimens held by national universities had been lost or misplaced. The reasons for lost or misplaced specimens include the university reforms that have been underway since 1992, a decline in the number of Earth and planetary science faculties, low specimen preservation literacy in the solid sciences, and inadequate laws and regulations on natural history specimens. Natural science specimens preserved at universities are valuable resources for developing natural sciences and should be passed on to future generations without being dispersed. However, there is currently no national system for the systematic management of natural history specimens in Japan. In many cases, the organization and storage of natural history specimens in university collections is left to the autonomous activities of researchers and disciplines. This current situation should be urgently improved, and a comprehensive system should be established to effectively and sustainably utilize existing natural history assets for the future.

 A plan to establish the National Okinawa Natural History Museum, which had been proposed by multiple subcommittees of the Science Council of Japan, is now underway with the positive approval of Okinawa Prefecture. Natural historical science and the events it addresses are not only gateways to scientific curiosity, they are also indispensable for educating future generations living on the Earth to have a positive awareness of nature and living things. The activities of this movement were taken over by the Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of the National Okinawa Natural History Museum, whose members are drawn from the Science Council of Japan, and the committee is disseminating information to further strengthen the movement.

 The purpose and importance of natural history collections are described, and their preservation and legacies within the context of the roles of natural history museums are discussed. The characteristics of natural history specimens are examined by comparing them with archaeological specimens. Finally, proposals are presented for the application of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties as a measure to preserve natural history collections for future generations.

 Japan' natural history museums are experiencing various strains due to the positioning of museum policy as a part of the administration of cultural assets since 2018. The Great East Japan Earthquake led to proposals for the treatment of natural history specimens and the institutionalization of natural history assets, but many challenges remain. The curricula of university curatorial training courses mostly focus on archaeology and art history museums, and there are few teachers who specialize in natural history. However, in the light of international trends such as the revised definition of a museum approved at the Extraordinary General Assembly of ICOM in 2022 and the challenges of achieving SDGs, further efforts are required of natural history and science museums. Various initiatives are underway at the National Science Museum under the slogan “Science for Culture.” Given the recent severe financial situation, it is necessary to pursue the roles of natural history museums as cultural facilities, and have them fulfil their missions and roles.

 The Museum Act is a Japanese law passed in 1951 with the goal of improving the functions of museums as institutions for social education by standardizing guidelines for the establishment and operation of museum facilities within the country. The act was most recently amended in 2022 based on the Basic Act on Culture and the Arts, which itself had been revised in 2017. The Basic Act on Culture and the Arts is based on cultural tourism measures that have been enacted as a national strategy of Japan since 2000. The history of amendments to the Museum Act is summarized to provide a better understanding of the impacts of the revisions based on the Basic Act on Culture and the Arts. This history is presented as a chronological table that is divided into issues related to museum laws, administrative reforms, cultural tourism policy, and academic societies. According to a survey of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), approximately 50 million natural history specimens are reposited in Japanese museums. Presented here is a list of those museum facilities that hold and/or exhibit 500 or more specimens to assess the geographic distribution and relative quantities of these materials. Among the 2022 revisions to the Museum Act was a mandate to create and publish digital archives of museum materials, which raised concerns among many museum officials given both the vast number of specimens and the budgetary and manpower constraints faced by nearly all museums. However, there is optimism that this mandate will encourage collaborations among institutions and catalyze the construction of a comprehensive public database of natural history specimens in the custody of Japanese museums.