Lake Biwa Museum

Neat museum in Otsu located on the lakes’ edge. It’s only 500 yen of adults but 300 with student discount. Its full of exhibits displaying fossils, taxidermies of lake wildlife, and artifacts. I especially enjoyed the replica of a 1950’s rural lake village. Sadly the aquarium was closed when my friends and I visited in late April. Maybe it’ll be open on my next trip. My only recommendation for the museum is to add more English descriptions. There was limited English, so I only was able to understand about 5 percent of all the descriptions. It may bring more tourists.
I did however increase my knowledge on Lake Biwa by a lot today.

It was a really nice and foreigner friendly museum. The exhibition has lots of variety of items. Strongly recommended!

Large museum with a lot of exhibits, ranging from geological to cultural. It also has a pretty decent freshwater aquarium at the end of the museum. Currently undergoing facade renovation and the outer part is mostly scaffolding. You currently need reservation to enter.

Access is quite difficult and it is recommended to use your own car.

Entrance fee 800 yen for adults... It worth 3 times more than that!!! Here it has very beautiful collections about local animals and also big aquarium!!!?? The facility's everything was so good!!! Highly recommend

The museum is a must visit place in Japan. I describes the origin till date of the great Lake Biwa and not just that it also features the evolution in technology and lifestyle of Japanese. The museum also has Large fish tanks with 1000s of fishes. The Museum also has a section where we can touch the fishes. The Museum also features various types of rocks in Japan and also the evolution of various species of animals.

Everything you need to know about lake biwa and the lifes surrounding it are all here! Definitely should go here if you're visiting shiga prefecture 👌

With great history, the museum is a must to visit for better information on the great lake biwa...

Surprisingly nice museum with a cool aquarium and some interesting exhibits. Unfortunately a lot was closed off while I was there but they made the entrance price cheaper instead!

Museum demos all the spices in Lake Biwa Otsu!! Cool and worth to take a look👍👍

An fantastic museum about lake Biwa's geology, Paleo and modern ecology, including the impact of humans on their environment through history.
Unfortunately the aquarium was under repairs when we visited.
Count 3h for the permanent exhibition even without the aquarium. Perfect for a rainy day !

So impressed with the hidden gem!

Super underrated place. Almost no tourists, popular among locals with kids. Interesting enough to spend the whole day there. Very suitable for kids.

My all time favorite aqua museum, been here ten something years ago. After a decade, it’s still looks new to me. Two of the exhibition halls A and B are under renovation and the ticket cut half now. But the aquarium exhibition already worth a visit. Highly recommended to those who love fresh water life form. 🐟🐢🦆

The museum is a must visit place in Japan. I describes the origin till date of the great Lake Biwa and not just that it also features the evolution in technology and lifestyle of Japanese.

The museum also has Large fish tanks with 1000s of fishes. The Museum also has a section where we can touch the fishes. The Museum also features various types of rocks in Japan and also the evolution of various species of animals.

Amazing place. Many species are alive and kept in the museum. We can see the traditional living style of people in Shiga and many rare species living in water. We can use an audio guide to understand about the museum and each specie. We can get fresh air and take breath on the lake shore.

beautifully made and maintained museum full of the flora and fauna of the biwako area as well as the geology, history, culture, and future. great hand-on discovery rooms available, too. due to coronavirus, must make reservation online before but it is easy to do. will definitely return!

Awesome museum. All animals are from the lake which is situated right on the side. Nice aquarium. Except for the small section about the oldest lake in the world. There is restaurant but also small eating area if you bring your own food. Loved to see the birds and insects. I want to visit again. If you live in shiga you can go for free the 3rd Sunday of every month. Cheers.

Very clean & Nice staff. The Art display is great & foreign friendly because most of their posters inside the museums even the directions has a english translation. . the souvenirs shop is quite small but organized.

Beautiful museum good for families.

This museum is a bit of a trek to get to, but it was so much fun. There is so much to see that even after spending two hours there, I thought I'd like to spend more time. The "C Exhibit" and the Aquariamum were really good, so make time to go there especially.