Hello everyone!
This is ♪ the Minami Town Tourism Association

On July 19, 2025, the Hiwasa Umigame Museum Caretta, located in Minami Town, Kaibu District, Tokushima Prefecture, reopened after about two years of renovation work.
Therefore, this time, we would like to introduce "Hiwasa Umigame Museum Caretta" to everyone!

【Overview】
Hiwasa Umigame Museum Caretta (commonly known as Caretta) is a Museum located in the Minami Town of Kaibu District, Tokushima Prefecture, and is one of the world's rare Museum specializing in sea turtles.
Caretta, with the theme of "Coexistence between Nature and Man", opened in 1985.
Its predecessor was the Hiwasa Town Water Museum, and its predecessor was the loggerhead turtle protection and breeding research activities by the Hiwasa junior high school Sea Turtle Research Group, Located in.

The Hiwasa Junior High School Sea Turtle Research Group was established in 1950 with the aim of protecting and breeding loggerhead sea turtles that land and lay eggs on the Ohama Coast.
At that time, there were no systematic research results on sea turtles, and there were not enough facilities in rural junior high schools in the immediate postwar period, so students at that time began to protect sea turtles in a semi-fumbling state.
The students' trial and error over the course of about 10 years bore fruit, and the results of their research have been introduced in numerous magazines, and "Ohama Coast as a spawning ground for loggerhead sea turtles" has become famous throughout Japan.

Finally, it was designated as a nationally designated natural monument as "sea turtles and their spawning grounds on the Ohama Coast," and the activities of Hiwasa in Minami Town were in the spotlight.

In order to make these conservation and research activities more widely known to as many people as possible, the Hiwasa Umigame Museums Caretta was opened.

【Exhibit Contents】
As the museum's name derives from the scientific name of loggerhead sea turtles "Caretta caretta", the exhibition focuses on loggerhead sea turtles.

Before the renovation, Caretta was an exhibition that mainly introduced the ecology of sea turtles.
Even in this renovation, the exhibit introducing the ecology of sea turtles remains, but it has been reborn to introduce the conservation and research activities of Minami Town Hiwasa in more detail.

As soon as you enter, there is an exhibition that covers the evolution of turtles and sea turtles, and in the passage that follows, you can see stuffed sea turtles of eight existing species and explain the ecology of each sea turtle.

The next section focuses on loggerhead sea turtles that land on the Ohama Coast and explains in detail what kind of life loggerhead sea turtles lead on the Ohama Coast.
Scenes of newborn hatchlings and one-year-old hatchlings swimming vigorously here.

And in the next corner, there is an exhibition that looks back on the history of the activities of Minami Town Hiwasa, which is a major feature of this renovation.
Why did the students of Hiwasa junior high school embark on loggerhead turtle conservation, how did they proceed with their research, and how did they come to be recognized by the public?
You can learn about the history of sea turtle conservation that continues to the present day.

At the end of the exhibition, you can learn how to protect sea turtles from modern environmental problems and how sea turtle conservation activities are carried out.

In addition to this, there is a display exhibition of sea turtles designed by children in the Original swimming on the screen, and a corner where you can take a quiz about sea turtles.
In addition, from the observation space on the 2nd floor, you can overlook the Ohama Coast in front of you.

[Outdoor Exhibition]
Outside the main exhibition building, there is a "large turtle pool" where adult loggerhead sea turtles swim leisurely.

In consideration of an environment that is easy for loggerhead sea turtles to swim in, the indigo color scheme that is conscious of the seabed of the Nature and the streamlined pool without horns are created.
It was also designed to be viewed from the side of the pool so that it is easy to observe them swimming and resting on the bottom of the water.

Hamataro, one of the loggerhead sea turtles living here, was born in 1950 at Hiwasa Junior High School and has been bred ever since for the purpose of observing the life of the sea turtle, which is still a mystery.
Hamataro, who turned 75 years old this year, holds the world's longest-lived loggerhead sea turtle record for which his age and individual have been reliably recorded, and he continues to break it.

In addition to this, there is also a "Touch Pool" and a "Pale Water Turtle Pool" where you can interact with the creatures of the seashore, and the "Tatayo Umigame Museum" where you can observe swimming sea turtles from below.

【Umigame Shokudo】
Caretta has a "Umigame Shokudo" adjacent to the large game pool.
Meals set meal, curry rice, and kamemonaka with ice milk are on sale, and you can enjoy them in the dining space.
In addition, there is a side window of the large turtle pool facing the Meals space, and you can watch the sea turtles swimming gracefully while enjoying the food.

Squid was it?
The charm of Caretta presented here is only a small part.

The charm of Caretta and the charm of sea turtles can only be felt with your five senses when you go to the site!

This time, the Hiwasa Umigame Museums Caretta has been reopened.
When you come to Minami Town Hiwasa, please come and visit us! !!

【When you come to the museum】
・ Car parking lot available (40 cars)
・Smoking is prohibited in all Inside the facility.
・Prohibition of eating and drinking outside of designated areas

【Access】
・About 15 minutes walk from JR Mugi Line, Hiwasa Station
・About 120 minutes by Car from Tokushima city

For more information about Hiwasa Umigame Museum Caretta, please see Official website.