Heda Shipbuilding Museum, Maritime museum in Numazu, Japan
Heda Shipbuilding Museum in Numazu holds materials on the Russian frigate Diana, wrecked by the 1854 Ansei-Tokai tsunami, and the schooner Heda built in its place by local carpenters. Exhibits include a model of the Diana shown at the Soviet pavilion of Expo '70, the Heda's surviving design drawings, and carpentry tools.
Founded in 1969, the museum was established to document the local shipbuilding industry that made Numazu an important port. The collections show how this economic sector shaped the city's development over decades.
The museum displays shipbuilding techniques passed down through generations of local craftsmen. Visitors can observe how traditional methods come alive through the exhibited tools and models on display.
The museum stands in Heda, on the west coast of Izu Peninsula facing Suruga Bay, and combines two sections: the shipbuilding and local history rooms and the adjoining Suruga Bay Deep Sea Creatures Museum (Musée Heda Bis), which reopened on 22 July 2017 under the supervision of Toshiro Saruwatari of the University of Tokyo's Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, with comedian Naoki Tanaka as honorary director. Allow time for both sections, since the deep-sea displays are included in the same visit.
The museum features a dedicated section on deep-sea creatures of Suruga Bay, connecting shipbuilding history with marine biology. This unexpected combination shows how deeply local culture is tied to the ocean.
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