It's a personal matter, but this January, I finally turned 60. I've been involved with dinosaurs for well over half a century, and I don't know how many more years I'll have with them. I'm thinking of starting to catalog my collection, which has been a pending issue, to prepare for that day, but I still find myself checking online auctions. I'm still living the same old days.

Taking this opportunity, a milestone in my life, I'd like to look back on my life with dinosaurs over two installments, this time and next. Please join me for stories about how my fascination with dinosaurs began and the resurgence of dinosaur fever in the 70s.

First, here's some photographic evidence. Photo 1

That's me, at 7 years old, looking proud in front of a dinosaur. It was 1960 (Showa 35) at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno. By then, I was already a full-fledged dinosaur boy. (The ridiculously cool Tyrannosaurus in the photo actually has three fingers. It seems to have disappeared when the Tarbosaurus skeleton was permanently exhibited in 1973. It was probably replaced by the Allosaurus skeleton, which was ousted from the central hall by the Tarbosaurus. The Stegosaurus was on display until the museum was renovated in 2007.)

I still have several dinosaur books that I cherished back then.

"Kagaku Club" (Science Club) Special feature "Evolution of Earth and Life, Development of Humankind," July 1956 issue
Cover Photo 2 and a scene from the Cretaceous period Photo 3

"Kagaku Club" (Science Club) Special feature "Ancient Organisms," October 1958
Photo 4

"Kagaku Taikan" (Science Overview) "Amphibians and Reptiles," May 1960 issue
Photo 5

"Dinosaurs Sleeping in the Gobi Desert" 1963
Photo 6

And among the books I read around that time, the most memorable was "Prehistoric Animals in Color" from 1962, which I (probably) leafed through cozily while resting in a sun-drenched futon when I was home sick from school. Photo 7

My father, who was a junior high school teacher, borrowed it from the school library. The illustrations by Czech paleontological artist Zdeněk Burian were shocking, and perhaps my encounter with this book is what led to where I am today. Later, after becoming a dinosaur collector, I desperately wanted this book and searched used bookstores for years. When I finally found it, I almost cried.
You can see Burian's works from this book in the same order here.

For the dinosaur figures I collected at the National Museum of Nature and Science during this period, and the dinosaur miniatures I bought at the toy store "Kanameya" in Shinjuku East Exit, please see "Dinosaur Treasury Vol.1".

In 1964, a theme park called "Yokohama Dreamland" appeared in Totsuka Ward, Yokohama. This was 20 years before Disneyland opened.
I heard there was an attraction called "Adventureland" (similar to Disneyland's Jungle Cruise) where you could sail through a primeval world. This is a photo from when I eagerly went there. Photo 8

Looking at the photo again, it's so well made that it could still pass today. I went several times after that, but unfortunately, it was abolished in 1970. Dreamland itself is now gone, and my memories are fading. I wasn't even sure what it was like anymore, but thanks to today's internet society, I found this amazing page.
"Dreamland Memories"
Within this page, under "Memories of Dreamland" → "Dreamland Memorial Album - Welcome to the Land of Dreams," there are color photos of "Adventureland."

Now, about the (interesting?) Dreamland souvenir dinosaur merchandise: they sold copies of Marx's miniature dinosaurs (Dinosaur Treasure House Vol. 5). (Most copies at the time were made in Hong Kong, so Japanese-made copies were valuable in a way.) I lost mine, but I borrowed a photo of an item owned by my friend and origami artist from the Dinosaur Club, Hiroaki Takai. Photo 9

Later, as I entered adolescence, my interests naturally shifted to girls, and for a while, I drifted away from dinosaurs. I even gave all the dinosaur figures I had collected as a child to a relative's child. (After I became a collector, I childishly tried to get them back, but many were gone. Even the Dreamland souvenirs...)

When I turned 20, a book stirred my dormant dinosaur passion. It was "Dinosaur Museum" by Ikuo Obata (1973). Though a paperback, it was a groundbreaking dinosaur and prehistoric creature encyclopedia for adults at the time. Photo 10

This sparked my renewed interest in reading dinosaur books. For example,
"The Age of Dinosaurs" by Björn Kurtén, translated by Ikuo Obata (1971)
Photo 11

"Dinosaurs - Their Origin and Extinction" by William Elgin Swinton, translated by Ikuo Obata (1972)
Photo 12

"99 Mysteries of Phantom Ancient Creatures" by Ikuo Obata (1976)
Photo 13
Ikuo Obata

In the world of Showa-era dinosaur books, Professor Obata's presence was overwhelming. As far as my search through "My List of Japanese Dinosaur Books" goes, Professor Obata has authored, translated, or supervised 343 dinosaur books to date. Since there are about 3800 dinosaur books in total, he's been involved in nearly 10% of them, which is astounding. About 20 years ago, we asked Professor Obata to give a lecture at a Dinosaur Club meeting. During it, he referred to Pachycephalosaurus as "Pachi-chan," and this unexpected remark from such a prominent paleontologist instantly put everyone at ease—an anecdote that's still told in the club. He seems to have retired from the front lines now, but he was a friendly and pleasant person.

In 1973, the year I returned to dinosaurs with "Dinosaur Museum," the "Soviet Dinosaur Exhibition" was held at the National Museum of Nature and Science, followed by Takarazuka Familyland, where a Tarbosaurus arrived. This was Japan's first full-scale dinosaur exhibition, and it was featured in "Asahi Graph" Photo 14 and the museum's institutional magazine Photo 15. I believe it was quite a sensation, but I don't remember seeing it—either I didn't go, or it's mixed up with the 1978 dinosaur exhibition. The 1978 "Great Dinosaur Exhibition" is the first dinosaur exhibition that remains vivid in my memory. This one, also billed as a collection from the Soviet Academy of Sciences, was an expanded version of the 1973 exhibition, but I'll save that story for next time, in the installment "Getting Seriously into Dinosaurs and the Warm-Blooded Hypothesis in 1976 during the Great Age of Dinosaurs."

By the way, the guidebooks for the 1973 "Soviet Dinosaur Exhibition," the National Museum of Nature and Science edition Photo 16 and the Takarazuka edition Photo 17, despite being for the same exhibition, are completely different books in terms of editing. It's a mystery.