This is my personal comments (and pictures) on the Yamato museum in Kure, Japan following my visit there during April 2008. I wish I had bought a carrying bag to get the full text of their slogan for this heading!
Altough my visit was only brief, I was not impressed by the way the town looked - very industrial, which is a shame given the beaches nearby. Kure is on the coast either 28 or 45 minutes by train from Hirsohima. There is a high-level walkway to the musueum, sign posted mostly in English until the signs become Japanese only. I ended up walking into the ferry terminal at the first attempt.
On entering the building, I used the vending machine to buy a ticket (500 yen), then walked around the corner to the ticket gate. Then at the gate, I was sent straight back to the information desk, next to the vending machine, to get an English audio guide. I think they spotted me quite easily, being the only non-Japanese present (and also the only person in an England shirt). Somehow this didn't strike me as very efficent, nor did it make sense that the introductory video (Japanese audio only) was placed outside said ticket gate.
The museum building can be split into a few areas - the exhibits area, model hall, large exhibits hall, and areas upstairs.
The tour starts in the regular exhibits area. The exhibits cover the period from the beginnings of the navy right through to the development of Kure post-WW2. Displays included the need for a navy, the early navy, wars against the Chinese and Russians, development of the Yamato, WW2 and Kure post war.
Also in this area was one of the original boilers from the battleship Kongo, as used into the 1970s. Unfortunately it had been cleaned so much that it looked like something new rather than an original.
In addition to me, the museum was busy with Japanese, including lots of families and one group of older men in suits. The locals were very interested in one of the videos, showing clips from late war, including rocket ships, US soldiers advancing, Kamikazes and Yamato under attack.
The English audio guide left something to be desired. It tended to pick up the next display panel beyond the one being viewed, then read the text that was shown in English on that panel. I think I might have done better without it. At the same time, the English audio did not cover panels like the 20 or so "A160" designs for Yamato. With enough knowledge, it could be seen that designs varied from 3 turrets forward to 2 forward, 2 aft, and between 12 x 40 cm guns on 51,000 tons to 8 x 40 cm on 69,000 tons.
No pictures were allowed in the exhibits area.
In the model hall is the 1/10th scale model of the Yamato, and yes, it is big. Very big. That said, I do get a feeling that the detailing might be better. Perhaps it is harsh to complain about seeing a 26 metre model, but the 4 metre model at the maritime museum in Odaiba, Tokyo, did seem to have better detail. Then again this is not the first time I have felt this about a big model, so maybe it is just me.
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In the large exhibits hall are several items:
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Going upstairs, there are views from the model from above (you can also walkaround below the model), along with a Kids science area and an area on Yamato in the future. This later area mostly concetrates on Space Battleship Yamato, including a large model, but also has other designs from fiction (e.g., with 4 triple mounts positioned forward).
Taking the lift upwards again leads to a viewing platform over the harbour and a deck mock-up. There were also a few pictures here.
Two odities struck me:
The museum did strike me as advocating the Yamato as the ultimate battleship. The word "ultimate" was used more than a few times. As an example, there was a display board on how the Yamato could engage aircraft or hit target ships underwater, using its special shell designs. I suspect that no mention was made of the isues that these shell designs had, though I could not follow the display well enough to confirm this.
Still the museum did at least mention that battleships had been eclipsed by air power when Yamato was completed. Plus it mentioned Japanese defeats - that's two things I did not expect to see.
Any non-Japanese reading visitor to the museum had best know something about the ship before arriving. Do not expect for example that the weapons carried by Yamato will be labelled in non-Japanese.
Outside the museum are various items from the battleship Mutsu. Around the corner to the (left on exiting) is an area representing 1/2 the Yamato's forward deck, plus a small Hydrofoil and a mini-sub. The mini-sub though is less noteable than the the big sub over the road.
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Across the road from the Yamato museum is the local JMSDF museum. This is noteably mostly because a real post-war submarine is mounted on a display stand outside - now that's what I call a model. Inside the museum (free entry), there are exhibits on mine sweeping and submarines. Very little English text is shown. The submarine (SS-579 Akishio) can be visited, but this comprises a visit to about three rooms only.
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There are shops in both museums, plus another separate shop on the right when walking back to the train station. I meant to go into the latter, but had to hurry for my train.