This is the trademark poetic words of Ukichiro Nakaya(1900-1962) who is famous as a scientist of snow and ice as well as a science writer. Captivated by the enchanting beauty of snow, Dr. Nakaya began to study snow crystals in early 1930s at the University of Hokkaido. His excellent achievement was the first production of artificial snow crystals in a cold room laboratory there. Besides the research on snow and ice, his activities expanded to write popular essays on science. Above is a phrase in his early work "Yuki (Snow)", which described meanings of his discovery on the shapes of snow crystals. He had contributed also for the progress of science movies in Japan. Several films such as "Snow Crystals" and "Frost Flowers" are pioneering work in science documentaries in late 1930s and early 1940s. In 1994, Nakaya Ukichiro Museum of Snow and Ice was established in his home town, Katayamazu, City of Kaga. It is not only for commemorating his great achievements in the science of snow and ice, but also for encouraging young people to study science, through various displays as movies, many photographs, old and new experimental devices and personal mementos.
Overlooking Shibayama Lagoon and Mt. Hakusan in distance, the museum building is characterized with three hexagonal towers imaging Snow Crystal shape.Walking on the wide gentle slope at the front. visitors can enjoy changing view of environment.
Across the bridge at the top of the slope, the museum entrance is located in the first hexagonal tower.
Next to the admission booth and the entrance hall, visitors enter into the Cinema Hall (the innermost hexagonal tower). Here,visitors learn about Dr. Nakaya's life and science by a high vision movie Spirit of Science; The World of Ukichiro Nakaya" regularly shown several times daily.
Down the staircase in front of the Cinema Hall, visitors come to Hall in the first floor, which is divided into 5 zones and a special exhibit corner.
This zone traces the scientific, artistic, and daily aspects of Dr. Nakaya's whole life starting from his days of a child in Kaga. It includes his years at the high school in Kanazawa and in the University of Tokyo, where he was much influenced by Prof. Torahiko Terada. Various episodes in his life in London, Sapporo and Tokyo are exhibited by many mementos and photographs.
Dr.Nakaya's first work on snow was to take photographs of snow crystals of various shapes in the campus of Hokkaido University and on a high altitude of Mt. Tokachi. Then he succeeded to produce artificial snow crystals of the same various shapes in the cold room laboratory of the university. From the experiments, he could understand the relationship between the shape of crystals and meteorological conditions. A model cold room lab and an apparatus for producing crystals are exhibited here. Visitors can enjoy many large photographs of various snow crystals on panels, as well as three-dimensional, and microscopic display. Later experimental device used on the Space Shuttle is on display here.
ln early 1950s, Dr. Nakaya carried out research on ice single crystals in the U.S.A. SIPLE. His first experiment there was the examination of beautiful Tyndall figures grown in ice when it was irradiated by light. Everyone of the visitors is encouraged to carry out his or her own Tyndall figure experiment in a special booth.
Dr.Nakaya's research took him to aIl corners of the globe. This zone shows his last years' research on glacial ice conducted in the "Under-Ice Townh in Greenland, as well as a study on snow crystal nuclei on the top of Mt. Mauna Loa in Hawaii. Recent research on ice sheet conducted by Japanese Antarctic Expeditions is also mentioned.
As a world-leading researcher on snow and ice, Dr. Nakaya served as a vice-president of the International Commission of Snow and Ice. This section displays his wide activities and influence on the international stage.
The rock garden beyond the exhibition hall is a reproduction of a Greenland glacier field. The rocks came from the Thule area in Greenland, near the location of Dr.Nakaya's last field of research.
