Our Sister Museums
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Overview
- Address: 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A
- Date of establishment: April 26, 1913
- Main administrative body: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Foundation
- Annual visitors: 1.5 million
- Floor space: about 43,000 square meters, three-story building
- Collected materials: about 15 million items
(Its fossil collections of Cenozoic mammals and cetaceans is particularly famous as one of the best in the U.S.A.)
Date of the establishment of the sister museum relationship
May 11, 1998, 8.30 a.m.(Japan time: May 12, 1998 1.30 a.m.)
Site of conclusion: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Photo at left: Dr. name Powell, former director of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and Dr. Shiro Nakagawa, director of Ibaraki Nature Museum signing the formal document.
Circumstances
In 1992, a sister park relationship between Kairakuen in Mito City (one of the three most famous gardens in Japan) and Shabarum Regional Park in Los Angeles County was established. Its official ceremony was held at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Since then, there have been on-going academic exchanges and cooperation between Ibaraki Nature Museum and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
When Ibaraki Nature Museum opened in November 1994, the opening commemorative exhibition, “the World of the Saber-Toothed Tiger,” was opened to the public, through collaboration with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Furthermore, the exhibition “Searching for the Wonders of Minerals” was opened in April 1996, followed by the exhibition “Sharks: Messengers from Ancient Times” in July 1996. Materials borrowed from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County were displayed on both occasions. (After that, the exhibition “Cetacea” was opened in January 1999, to commemorate the sister museum relationship between the two museums.)
Friendship between the two museums has been fostered through numerous opportunities for academic exchange and collaborative work. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County made a proposal to establish an amicable relationship with Ibaraki Nature Museum, when the U.S. Museum Conference was held in Los Angeles.
On May 11, 1998, Ibaraki Nature Museum officially established an amicable sister museum relationship with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The official ceremony was held in Los Angeles. This was the 2nd time for Ibaraki Nature Museum to establish a sister museum relationship with a foreign museum. Previously, a sister museum relationship with Inner Mongolia Provincial Museum was established in August 1997. In Japan, this was the first time that a natural history museum had established sister museum relationships with more than one foreign museum.
The Inner Mongolia Provincial Museum
Overview
- Address: Huhhot City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the People’s Republic of China
- Date of establishment: May 1, 1957
- Total ground area: about 10,000 square meters
- Total floor space of exhibition rooms: about 5,000 square meters
- Collected materials: about 100,000 items
Date of the establishment of the sister museum relationship
August 21, 1997
Site of the official ceremony: Inner Mongolia Provincial Museum
Circumstances
In September 1993, a research group from Ibaraki Prefecture and one from Inner Mongolia carried out joint research on fossil remains of dinosaurs and other ancient life forms in the Gobi Desert.
In July 1994, skeleton reproductions of a Nuoerosaurus and a Songhua mammoth were made. These skeleton reproductions are used as symbolic exhibits at Ibaraki Nature Museum.
After the opening of Ibaraki Nature Museum, the exhibition “Message from Extinct and Endangered Creatures” was opened to the public, with materials borrowed from Inner Mongolia Provincial Museum.
Through numerous exchange and cooperative events, friendship between the two museums has been fostered. On August 21, 1997, Ibaraki Nature Museum officially established an amicable sister museum relationship with Inner Mongolia Provincial Museum at Huhhot City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
