Veins Museum

The Annual Layer Museum is the world's first museum dedicated to a single theme: "annual layers." Annual layers are layers of mud that have accumulated at the bottom of lakes over long periods of time. The annual layers of Lake Suigetsu, one of the scenic Mikata Five Lakes (Fukui Prefecture), record an enormous period of time—70,000 years—the longest in the world, and are deposited to a depth of 45 meters, making them recognized worldwide as the world standard for dating. One hundred thin slices of "shining soil = annual layers" are displays facing the lake, making it a regional symbol that transcends the boundaries of a typical museum.

Furthermore, the landscape itself is an displays. You can feel the passage of time, and as the sun sets, displays, along with the landscape, change their appearance. We have created a harmonious worldview where the boundaries between displays, architecture, and landscape are blurred.

[Customer Feedback]
Although "annual layers" is a generally unfamiliar and difficult topic, after much discussion and consideration to create displays that would satisfy visitors, we have created displays that is both academic and easy to understand, and has received high praise in visitor surveys and other feedback.

<Our project members>
[Sales/Project Management] Akihide Inoue
[Planning] Kyohei Kishida
[concept design] Sho Inanobe
[Production/ construction] Takeshi Suesaki, Nanae Hori, Riku Murata