The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019 had a profound impact on the Museum’s activities on research, collection, preservation, and utilization of specimens and materials, as well as on exhibiting and educational support activities. However, Japan is now officially in its full-fledged post pandemic era, as COVID-19 was downgraded to class 5 under the Infectious Diseases Control Law in May of this year. It is time to pave the way for renewed museum activities.

Out of the various initiatives taken up during the pandemic, the Museum will determine which activities to retain for its future activities, while reassessing the value and significance of exhibits that invite visitors to actually visit the museum fora firsthand experience. These will serve to further enhance the activities of our museum.

The Museum is now gradually resuming its exhibitions and events that have previously been canceled or postponed, and in parallel, introducing new, unprecedented initiatives. For example, in March, we opened “Exploration Area ComPaSS VR,” a virtual exhibition room in VR space. This is a new exhibit that uses VR technology to introduce materials that are difficult to transport to other places, and in addition, combines audio and visual senses to create an experience which cannot easily be duplicated in actual exhibition rooms. We will continue to send out information through SNS such as YouTube and Instagram, which we have newly adopted during the pandemic. The travelling exhibitions, “Pokémon Fossil Museum” and “WHO ARE WE And What Can We Learn From Observation?” held in collaboration with local museums and private companies since 2021, will be continued as well.

During the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Museum has attempted to redefine the future roles of museums, while experimenting with various ideas. In summing up, I, as President of this museum, have chosen“incorporating science into culture” as our vision, our aspiration. The Museum, together with its staff members, will continue to embark on new challenges to realize this vision, and to contribute to its further advancement. We look forward to your continued support.