Tokyo Tech Museum informs youngster, elderly at public lecture

Thirty-one residents of Meguro City, Tokyo ranging from elementary school students to retirees joined the Institute's lifelong learning lecture on February 21 to familiarize themselves with the work conducted by the Tokyo Tech Museum and Archives. What really happens at a museum, a session held jointly with the Meguro City Board of Education at a community center in central Tokyo, marked the tenth straight year of collaboration between Tokyo Tech and the board.

Behind-the-scenes efforts of museum

To kick off the session, Tokyo Tech Museum and Archives Researcher Chisako Miyamae provided an overview of the role of the museum. She highlighted that their work includes many aspects other than exhibiting collections, including organizing information on items, archiving their particular characteristics, and publishing data regarding the collections at Tokyo Tech. The detailed investigation of these items is an important component of cultural development, Miyamae explained.

Dinosaur fossils as a source of biological information

The second part of the session was led by Senior Curator Takanobu Tsuihiji from the Department of Geology and Paleontology at the National Museum of Nature and Science. The curator, also an associate professor at Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, lectured on how the museum's items are utilized when conducting research, taking dinosaur fossils as an example.

Tsuhiji talked about the site where these fossils were discovered, how collected specimens are reconstructed, and research processes that take place at the National Museum of Nature and Science. "Studying fossils does not mean simply observing them. Only by comparing them to living organisms can we acquire valuable biological information from these specimens," Tsuihiji noted. The specific research methods applied at the museum were of particular interest to the participants.

Despite the obstacles created by COVID-19, the Tokyo Tech Museum and Archives continues to connect with partners in order to share valuable information with the public.

• Local residents tour history of Tokyo Tech, Ookayama Campus | Tokyo Tech News
• Tokyo Tech Museum and Archive (Japanese)
• National Museum of Nature and Science