JMSDF (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force) Kure Museum (Iron Whale Museum)

A submarine “Akishio” fulfilled various missions from 1986 to 2004, opens to the public as a museum in JMSDF Kure Museum　which is called “Iron Whale Museum”. This is the only museum in Japan where you can explore the inside of a submarine used in the past.

As you enter the museum, on the first floor，you can learn about the history of Kure and JMSDF, which has developed as a “naval town” since the opening of the former naval town hall in Kure in 1889.
You can learn about the history of Japan, an island nation surrounded by the sea, from the postwar navy, which was engaged in minesweeping, to the establishment of the JMSDF.

On the 2nd floor, Minesweeping, which participates actively across the world, is explained. “Minesweeping”, which removes mines left at the bottom of the ocean, is one of the important missions for JMSDF. There are other various exhibits, including full-scale reproductions of real mines and part of the deck of a minesweeper.

As you go up to the 3rd floor, you can see various exhibits where you can learn about submarines, including a model of a submarine and a corner that reproduces the living space inside a submarine. The more you learn about submarines, the more you will be able to enjoy the inside of a submarine.

From the third-floor exhibition room, you can take a connecting path and finally go inside the submarine!
Inside the submarine Akishio, which has been preserved almost exactly as it was when it was still in service, you can see the space where the crew actually lived, and you can use two types of periscopes to look out over Kure bay.

The leaflets are available in 7 languages (English,　traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish and Portuguese) that about 90% of the world can follow.