Six places in Yamaguchi Prefecture let you spend a rainy day under a roof: an aquarium and a history museum in Shimonoseki, a museum in Yamaguchi City, a coal museum and a plant house in Ube, and an art and history museum in Shunan. This guide compares them on entry fee, parking and closed days, so you can pick the right one for the day.
In short
- Only the Coal Memorial Museum in Ube is free to enter.
- Only Kaikyokan Aquarium in Shimonoseki is open every day of the year. The others close on Mondays or Tuesdays.
- Only the Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum says its car park and nearby car parks are free.
- Kaikyokan offers a lower price to people who live in Shimonoseki City. A residence card showing a Shimonoseki address counts as proof.
Checked with official pages on 5 October 2026.
1. Which one fits your day?
Depends on the place
On a Monday, your choices are Kaikyokan Aquarium (open every day) and the two Tokiwa Park places in Ube (the Coal Memorial Museum and the Plant Museum), which close on Tuesdays. Click a name to jump to its section. Prices are for one adult paying the individual price. Special exhibitions can cost extra.
| Place | Adult entry | Parking | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaikyokan Aquarium | ¥2,500 | Paid, nearby | Open daily |
| Shimonoseki History Museum | ¥210 (18 and under free) | 26 spaces, paid | Mondays |
| Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum | ¥200 (18 and under free) | Free | Mondays |
| Coal Memorial Museum | Free | Tokiwa Park, paid | Tuesdays |
| Plant Museum (Tokiwa Park) | ¥300 (under 18 free) | Tokiwa Park, paid | Tuesdays |
| Shunan Museum of Art and History | ¥200 (18 and under free) | 159 spaces | Mondays |
When a closing day falls on a public holiday, the rule differs by place; each section says what it is.
2. Closed days and parking
Depends on the place
Closed days split into Mondays and Tuesdays. The Shimonoseki History Museum, the Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum and the Shunan Museum close on Mondays. The facilities in Tokiwa Park, including the Coal Memorial Museum and the Plant Museum, close on Tuesdays. Tokiwa Park’s official page says some days are irregular closures, so check its closure calendar. Kaikyokan has no closed day.
Parking differs a lot. The Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum has an 18-space car park, and four other car parks nearby, all free. A fifth, inside the prefectural office grounds (300 spaces), is free on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only. Near Kaikyokan, the official site lists paid car parks. Miraipark (みらいパーク) is the nearest, and its fee for 8:00–20:00 is ¥100 per 30 minutes on weekdays and ¥300 per 30 minutes on weekends and holidays. Prices can change in busy seasons.
2.1 Shimonoseki Aquarium Kaikyokan (市立しものせき水族館「海響館」), Shimonoseki City
The aquarium is open every day of the year, 9:30–17:30 (last entry 17:00), though hours may change with weather, disasters or the health of the animals. Some events are suspended. Exhibits include puffer fish (including the tiger puffer), jellyfish, sub-Antarctic penguins, spotted seals, finless porpoises, a touching pool, and a dolphin and sea lion presentation. A “Hireashi Beach” (ひれあしビーチ) area is on the floor map.
Adults (high school students included) pay ¥2,500, elementary and junior high school students ¥1,200 and children aged 3 and over ¥500. People who live in Shimonoseki City pay ¥1,000 (adults), ¥450 (elementary and junior high) and ¥200 (children aged 3 and over). To get the city price, show the original of an ID that has a current Shimonoseki address on it. The official list includes a driver’s licence, a My Number card, a residence card (在留カード) and a passport that shows a current Shimonoseki address. The ticket window takes cash, credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and UnionPay) and PayPay, but not with discount tickets or company subsidy tickets.
Getting there: From JR Shimonoseki Station, a bus to Kaikyokan-mae (海響館前) takes about 5 minutes. From Mojiko, a ferry takes about 5 minutes. For cars, the closest car parks are Miraipark (395 spaces, about 55 m away) and Miraipark 2 (232 spaces, about 40 m away). Both charge the same fees.
Address: 6-1 Arcaport, Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture · Open in Google Maps
Phone: 083-228-1100
Official prices page (Japanese)
2.2 Shimonoseki City History Museum (下関市立歴史博物館), Shimonoseki City
The museum is in the Chofu area of Shimonoseki. The permanent exhibition costs ¥210 for adults, ¥100 for university students and ¥100 for people aged 65 or over who live in Shimonoseki or Kitakyushu (show proof). People aged 18 and under enter free. A special exhibition on the Choshu war (幕長戦争) is planned for 9 October to 29 November 2026; its dates may change, and its fee is set separately.
The museum is open 9:30–17:00 (last entry 16:30). It is closed on Mondays; when Monday is a public holiday, it is open and the first weekday after is the closed day. It is also closed from 28 December to 4 January.
The car park has 26 spaces plus 2 for visitors with disabilities. Parking is ¥100 per hour for the first 2 hours, then ¥100 per 30 minutes, up to ¥1,000 a day. If you see the exhibits, the first two hours are free for people aged 75 or over, pregnant women, people with a baby or young child, and people with a disability certificate or a long-term care certification (and their carer). There is no car park for large buses.
Getting there: From JR Shimonoseki Station, take a bus bound for Chofu and other destinations (about 25 minutes) to “Joka-machi Chofu” (城下町長府), then walk about 10 minutes.
Address: 2-2-27 Chofu-kawabata, Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture · Open in Google Maps
Phone: 083-241-1080
Official museum information (Japanese)
2.3 Yamaguchi Prefectural Yamaguchi Museum (山口県立山口博物館), Yamaguchi City
The museum’s car park and the nearby car parks are free. The permanent exhibition costs ¥200 for adults and ¥130 for students. People aged 18 and under, people aged 70 or over, and school pupils enter free. Special exhibitions can be seen with the permanent exhibition ticket. During the Education and Culture Week (1 to 7 November), everyone enters free. It is open 9:00–16:30, and the last entry is at 16:00.
The rooms cover science and technology, earth science, plants, animals, archaeology, history and astronomy, and the museum also has outdoor exhibits. The museum’s official site has an English digest page.
The museum is closed on Mondays (the next weekday if Monday is a public holiday), on 10 October 2026 because of a building-wide power outage, and from 28 December to 4 January. It is also closed in January and February 2027 for LED lighting work. From 1 October, there are periods when the third-floor exhibition room and the Yamaguchi Line simulator cannot be used, so check the notice on the home page.
Free parking: 18 spaces at the museum, 76 at the Archaeological Center, 30 beside the Education Hall and 350 around the library; the prefectural office car park (300 spaces) is free on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only. There is no coach parking; groups reserve parking through the Yamaguchi City tourism office (083-934-2810).
Getting there: It is a 20-minute walk (about 1.5 km) from JR Yamaguchi Station, or a 4-minute walk from the “Kencho-mae” (県庁前) bus stop.
Address: 8-2 Kasuga-cho, Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture · Open in Google Maps
Phone: 083-922-0294
Official visitor information (Japanese; English digest available)
2.4 Coal Memorial Museum (石炭記念館), Ube City
Entry is free. The museum covers the coal-mining history of Ube. It has a model tunnel built in 1970 that recreates an undersea coal-mining site of the Showa 30s (1955–1964), and a two-thirds scale reconstruction of a miners’ company house from around 1936. The observation tower (37 m high, with an elevator) was moved from a former pithead tower. An outdoor yard has large mining machines. In the rain, you can stay with the indoor exhibits. The museum was named a Modernization Industrial Heritage site by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in fiscal 2007.
It is open 9:30–17:00 and closed on Tuesdays and from 29 December to 1 January. If Tuesday is a public holiday, the closure moves to the next day, and Tokiwa Park facilities also have irregular closures.
Parking uses Tokiwa Park’s paid car parks. For an ordinary car, it is free for 15 minutes, ¥200 up to 2 hours, ¥300 up to 3 hours, ¥400 up to 4 hours and ¥500 up to 24 hours. Admission to the park itself is free.
Address: Tokiwa Park, Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture · Open in Google Maps
Phone: 0836-31-5281
Official page (Japanese)
2.5 Tokiwa Museum: World Plant Museum (ときわミュージアム 世界を旅する植物館), Ube City
Adults (18 to 69) pay ¥300, people aged 70 or over pay ¥200 and anyone under 18 enters free. The building is divided into 8 zones based on the plants of different parts of the world, with a symbol tree in each zone, such as the baobab. It also shows original cacti bred in Tokiwa Park and, in spring and autumn, about 300 kinds of roses. An autumn rose exhibition runs from 17 October to 8 November.
The Plant Museum is open 9:30–16:30 (last entry 16:00) and closed on Tuesdays. When Tuesday is a public holiday, it is open and closed the next day. Parking is the same paid system as for the Coal Memorial Museum. The park’s planning division can answer questions on 0836-54-0551.
Address: 3-4-1 Norisada, Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture · Open in Google Maps
Phone: 0836-54-0551 (Tokiwa Park planning division)
Official page (Japanese)
2.6 Shunan City Museum of Art and History (周南市美術博物館), Shunan City
The museum is closed from 26 to 31 October 2026 for maintenance. The permanent exhibition costs ¥200 for adults and ¥100 for university students. People aged 18 and under and people aged 70 or over enter free. People with a disability certificate and their carers also enter free. Special exhibitions are priced separately: “Watanabe Osamu: ORIGIN” (渡辺おさむ展 ORIGIN), from 13 November to 27 December 2026, costs ¥1,300 for adults.
The permanent exhibition has a room for the photographer Hayashi Tadahiko (林忠彦記念室), a Mado Michio corner (まど・みちおコーナー) and a special display on the Taiwan governor-general Kodama Gentaro (徳山の歴史「台湾総督 児玉源太郎」). The museum is open 9:30–17:00 (last entry 16:30). It is closed on Mondays (the next day if Monday is a public holiday) and from 29 December to 3 January.
The car park has 159 spaces, which can be shared with other facilities during events. Getting there: It is about 20 minutes on foot from JR Tokuyama Station, or about 5 minutes by taxi. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, a 100-yen “Choi-nori” bus runs from the station every 20 minutes from 9:00 to 18:00.
Address: 10-16 Hanabatake-cho, Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture · Open in Google Maps
Phone: 0834-22-8880
Official visitor information (Japanese)
3. Which one for which kind of rainy day?
Depends on the place
- Sea animals. Kaikyokan Aquarium, open every day.
- Spend nothing. The Coal Memorial Museum is free; the Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum is free for people aged 18 and under and for everyone from 1 to 7 November.
- Free parking. The Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum.
- Plants under glass. The Plant Museum in Tokiwa Park, closed on Tuesdays.
- Art and local history. The Shunan Museum of Art and History, or the Shimonoseki History Museum in Chofu.
4. Common questions
Which places are open on Monday?
Kaikyokan is open every day. The Coal Memorial Museum and the Plant Museum close on Tuesdays, so they are open on Mondays. The Shimonoseki History Museum, the Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum and the Shunan Museum close on Mondays, and what happens when Monday is a public holiday differs by museum, so check before you go.
Is there anywhere free to enter?
The Coal Memorial Museum is free. The Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum is free for people aged 18 and under and aged 70 or over, and for everyone from 1 to 7 November.
Which place has free parking?
The Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum and the car parks around it are free (the one in the prefectural office is free on weekends and holidays only). Kaikyokan, the Shimonoseki History Museum and Tokiwa Park charge for parking.
Sources (checked October 2026)
- Kaikyokan: prices, hours and access and floor map
- Shimonoseki City History Museum: information and exhibitions
- Yamaguchi Prefectural Yamaguchi Museum: visitor information, access, permanent exhibition and notices
- Tokiwa Park: Coal Memorial Museum, Plant Museum, park guide, parking and closure calendar
- Shunan City Museum of Art and History: hours and prices, access and home page
