This year has come the season where you can see valuable animals. It is hibernation of Japanese dormouse.
The Japanese dormouse is an animal similar to a squirrel or rat with a length of about 8 cm. It is an endemic species of Japan found only in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, and is also designated as a national natural monument.
Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture is also one of the habitats of Japanese dormouse, and was designated as a city animal in 2007. Kiyosato has the only museum of dormouse in Japan called Seisen Ryo and Mimi Museum, which actively protects and conducts research.
Many lovers love the dormouse, but especially in the winter when they enter hibernation, they can get a hot gaze. The appearance of curling up and hibernating is very cute.
You can see such hibernating dormouse in the Seisen Dormitory and Mimi Museum. I don’t usually display the dormouse’s living body, but at this time, when hibernation becomes stable, I can see it.
In this season, which is said to be a warm winter, we hibernated safely at the end of last year. An exhibition of dormouse sleeping while waiting for spring has started.
If the dormouse wakes up on the way, the exhibition will be suspended, so we can definitely not see it until spring, but we will be able to see hibernation until about mid-March.
The museum is open from Friday to Monday and only on public holidays. Please come to see the precious figure only in winter!
[Special display of hibernating dormouse]
