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Amami Guntō NP, Kagoshima
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The diorama includes a pair of Ryukyu wood-feeding cockroaches eating one another’s wings as they pair. A 2021 study described this as the first documented mutual case.
In a tiny scene, a Shinobi loach releases a bubble from its vent. Loaches can swallow air and breathe through the intestine as well as through gills—a surprising trick the diorama makes visible.
Tokunoshima’s Shinobi loach was once commonly seen—and eaten—on the island, but loss of shallow wetland and paddy habitat now puts it at risk. Scientists formally described it as a new species in 2022.
An Amami rabbit mother keeps her young in a separate burrow and visits about every other night, nearly at the same time, to nurse them. The center’s guide reveals this discreet routine.
“Spark of Life” arranges 145 plants and animals in 6 forest settings, from woods near settlements to deep forest and mountain peaks. It’s a tiny tour of Tokunoshima’s varied habitats.
The display’s mountain-peak forest is a real cloud forest near Mt. Inokawadake: frequent fog and limited sunlight keep trees low, while ferns, mosses and other epiphytes grow on trunks and branches.
Tokunoshima’s forest-focused center also takes visitors underwater: 12 marine environments appear as cube-shaped models. The island’s biodiversity, the exhibit shows, doesn’t stop at the shoreline.
A tiny ecosystem plays out in the model: an adult Amami rabbit leaves droppings as its young eats fallen leaves, while Tokunoshima’s dung beetle feeds on rabbit waste—forest recycling in miniature.
One miniature bat naps among broad leaves: the Ryukyu tube-nosed bat uses large, dried leaves as roosts. The diorama shows it nestled in Heptapleurum heptaphyllum—a leafy forest hideaway.
Some Amami rabbits on Tokunoshima have white markings on their feet, nicknamed shirotabi, or “white socks.” The center’s guide points out this island-specific detail about a species featured in its forest diorama.
To build its forest diorama, the team transported Tokunoshima’s plants to Kyoto, where the miniature was made. The island’s own vegetation made a remarkable round trip for the exhibit.
The kids’ play pool is filled with wooden acorns modeled on Quercus miyagii. Even the center’s play corner borrows a real Tokunoshima plant for a hands-on nature detail.
The center’s “living museum” design makes the scenery part of the visit: its windows look onto land inside the national park, with the World Heritage area stretching beyond. The forest is right outside.
The center’s emblem pairs 2 Tokunoshima endemics: the banded ground gecko and Tanemura aoi. The design uses them to represent the island’s many plants and animals living together.
By Dec. 21, 2025, one day before its first anniversary, the center had welcomed 45,980 visitors—a striking first-year turnout for Tokunoshima’s new wildlife museum.
