Most Popular PlacesRandom PlaceListsItinerariesAdd a PlaceDownload the App The Kuji Amber Museum Joseph W. Young Statue ‘Night Song’ Flight of Dreams Where to See the World’s Creepiest Dolls and Toys 3 days ago Where to See the World’s Most Famous Preserved Body Parts 10 days ago You can fulfill your childhood dream of becoming a paleontologist by digging for your own amber fossils. Although Japan is well-known for Akoya cultured pearls and jadeite jade, amber deposits can be found throughout much of the country from the Mikasa region of Hokkaidō to Shime in Fukuoka Prefecture.
In the prefecture of Iwate, however, lies Kuji, a coastal city with a long history of amber excavation, and is one of the few sources of amber of significant size and quality for commercial gem and ornamental uses. The Kuji Amber Museum itself proudly claims to be the only museum in Japan dedicated to this fossilized tree resin. If the weather is permitting, the Museum allows visitors to live out their dreams of being a paleontologist by mining for their own amber fossils in the same landscape that once was roamed by tyrannosauroids and other dinosaurs, which dates back to the late Cretaceous period in the Mesozoic Era.
Any amber discovered below one kilogram can be kept as a souvenir. The amber mining experience is available four times a day except during the winter season. The Museum also offers other workshops from jewelry-making to other fossil excavation simulations separate to the main amber mining experience.
The Kohaku Shrine ("the Amber Shrine") and the entrance to an inactive amber drift mine can be explored by visitors across the grounds as well. Get more unusual and extraordinary places each week with the Atlas Obscura Places newsletter. Your newsletter subscriptions with us are subject to Atlas Obscura's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
The Museum grounds are about a 10-minute taxi ride from the Kuji Station, and although some taxis (on rare occasions) accept credit card payment, the typical fare as of September 2026 was¥2400. A shuttle bus is available for free pickup from the Kuji Station to the Museum but requires advance notice by phone,0194-59-3831. The fourth time slot for the Amber Mining Experience also requires advance notice as well, but reservations can be made online on their website.
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