During the Respect for the Aged Day long weekend, a group of volunteers from the Dinosaur Club visited Iida City in Nagano Prefecture. Our main objective was to see "The Room of Wonders – The Yoshihisa Hasegawa Collection" exhibition held at the Iida City Museum. Dr. Yoshihisa Hasegawa, the oldest living paleontologist in Japan (whom I will refer to as "Sensei" from now on), is a remarkably active individual, even at 93 years old. He recently visited Koshiki Island, one of Kyushu's dinosaur localities, and a few years ago, he even ventured into caves in search of Japanese wolf bones. He is truly an "amazing human being."

He is also an honorary member since the Dinosaur Club's inception, and thanks to that, I occasionally have the opportunity to speak with him. It's been 20 years since I accompanied him on a tour to an excavation site in Liaoning Province. What personally fascinates me is his collector's spirit. Not only does he collect fossils, bones, and books, but he also seems to have a collecting habit that causes trouble for his family, as he can't rest until he acquires anything that catches his eye. I secretly look up to him as my mentor.

With such an extensive collection, even if only a fraction was to be publicly displayed in Sensei's hometown of Iida, I felt compelled to go and pay my respects, hoping for some good fortune.

 

It took us six hours from Shinjuku by highway bus (and a staggering seven hours on the way back!) due to traffic jams, but we finally arrived in Iida City. It was a compact, quiet, and relaxed town nestled between the Southern and Central Alps. Amidst the rather deserted Showa-era streets stood a surprisingly modern art museum. Through the glass from outside the building, we could see a gigantic Spinosaurus skeleton, which excited everyone. This Spino was the one that amazed enthusiasts with its sheer size at the "Dinosaurs 2009: Miracles of the Desert!" exhibition held at Makuhari Messe in 2009, supervised by Dr. Hasegawa.

 

By the way, currently, there are only two complete Spinosaurus skeletons in Japan: one in Iida and one at the Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History & Human History. However, the Kitakyushu one is of the modern aquatic style that came to the National Museum of Nature and Science in 2016, so the nostalgic JP3-style Spino can only be seen here. Its towering height gives it an immense presence, making it seem much stronger than the aquatic Spino, and it makes sense that it could defeat a T-Rex. We were all amazed by the craftsmanship that allowed it to fit perfectly within the narrow exhibition space.

This window-side space also houses a fighting fossil (a repaired replica, not the original from Kanna Town), a Tarbosaurus skull, Akebono elephant and crocodile specimens, all crammed together.

 

Now, finally, to "The Room of Wonders." The title refers to the "Wunderkammer" or "cabinet of curiosities," an honorable tradition of museum display rooms that originated in early modern Europe, a perfectly fitting name for this exhibition. The entrance was designed to fully evoke that atmosphere, conveying the organizers' enthusiasm.

 

The exhibition space consists of a single room, but in the center, countless skulls of modern animals (even hippos and giraffes!) are arranged, and along the walls are fossils related to Dr. Hasegawa's excavations (replicas, as they are from his personal collection), making for a truly impressive display. What particularly catches the eye is the almost life-sized skeleton of a Futabasaurus suzukii (I'll intentionally use this name...) displayed on the front wall. At first glance, it looks like a replica, but it's actually a photograph. And if you look closely, the background is covered with something like craft paper, and there are desks and other objects in front of it.

It doesn't seem like a photograph of exhibited items. I wondered if it was a photo taken during a temporary assembly before the exhibition, and asked Sensei, but he said he didn't remember, so the truth remains unknown. Perhaps it's a valuable photo. In any case, it was integrated with "The Room of Wonders" so seamlessly that it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began, and we were all impressed by the magnificent layout.

In front are replicas of type specimens and reconstructed skulls. On a personal note, I already acquired the type specimen through the National Museum of Nature and Science's crowdfunding campaign. It will be a while before it comes home, but when it does, I plan to dedicate a grand feature to Futabasaurus.

Beside it are three important fossils associated with Sensei: "Tedori-ryu," "Sanchu-ryu," and "Mifune-ryu," as well as "Moshiryu," Japan's first dinosaur fossil, displayed alongside its research paper.

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The walls are also packed with other fascinating paleontological items, such as a real fossil of a Keichousaurus with an oddly swollen belly (pregnant?), and a rare replica of a Dimetrodon footprint. In the display case next to the entrance are Sensei's proud collection of mammalian tibiae. The items placed on red stands are fossils of pinnipeds. The unabashed pose of the sea otter (though it's just eating a shell) is endearing...

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Sensei's brief biography (from a panel near the entrance), and my two-shot with a life-sized panel in front of the Paleoparadoxia. The life-sized panel was somehow popular, and everyone was lining up to take pictures with it, even though Sensei himself was there...

 

Professor Hasegawa may not be very familiar to contemporary dinosaur fans, but for us Showa-era dinosaur fans, he is like a missionary. Along with the late Dr. Ikuo Obata, he provided much-needed information about dinosaurs through various books at a time when such resources were scarce; he is, so to speak, a benefactor. Let me show you some of the books from my own collection that I am indebted to. (I can't possibly introduce all the individual data...)

 

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His own writings and translated books

Many of his works are children's books, with the exception of "CD Books Dinosaur Encyclopedia" (Shufu no Tomo, 1990). This came with a CD of dinosaur sounds, co-authored with Hisakunihiko. "Stamp Museum - Resurrecting Dinosaurs" (Mirai Bunka Publishing, 1994) introduces dinosaur stamps from around the world, one of Sensei's collecting interests, with dinosaur commentary. "The Futabasaurus Excavation Story" (Kagaku Dojin, 2008) appears to be the first comprehensive excavation record by the person directly involved.

The children's book "Dinosaurs - The Living Ultrasaurus" (Heibonsha, 1985) is an easy-to-understand explanation of the excavation and reconstruction of Ultrasaurus, which was considered the largest dinosaur at the time. "Dinosaur Excavation Records" (Fukuinkan Shoten, 1998; originally published in the magazine "Takusan no Fushigi" in 1985) is a picture book-style account of Sensei's dinosaur excavations in Madagascar.

 

Among his translated books, David Lambert's two volumes, "A Field Guide to Dinosaurs" and "A Field Guide to Fossils" (Heibonsha 1985/1988), stand out in my memory as cutting-edge encyclopedias at the time. And to think he was involved in the translation of William Stout's epoch-making art book "The Dinosaurs" (Secret Treasure House Vol. 12), which is still fresh in my mind from the "Dinosaur Art Exhibition"!

 

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Books he supervised or collaborated on

"The Discovery Story of Desmostylus, the Phantom Monster" (Kaisei-sha, 1971) and "Dinosaur Expedition" (Gakken, 1977) were collaborations with Yoichi Takashi, a children's author who wrote many dinosaur books.

 

*In "Dōshin Sanka" (Ryoko Sato, Nishinippon Shimbun, 1995), a biography of Yoichi Takashi based on interviews, there is a fascinating chapter recounting his interactions with Professor Hasegawa.

 

Sensei also supervised "Gakken's Illustrated Encyclopedia" as well as "Illustrated Dinosaurs: The World of Archosaurs" (Holp Shuppan, 1988) and "Animal Encyclopedia, Supplementary Volume 2: Pterosaurs" (Heibonsha, 1993), all books at the height of the dinosaur renaissance.

 

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Magazines he authored/supervised

In "Ocean Science, April issue" (Ocean Publishing, 1970), he contributed a highly specialized article titled "Sea 'Dinosaurs'/Plesiosaurs," discussing plesiosaurs, which would later become Futabasaurus suzukii. Moreover, the co-author was Dr. Ikuo Obata. The collaboration of these two giants of the Showa-era dinosaur world is extremely rare. Both of them seem to have been affiliated with the National Museum of Nature and Science at that time.

 

*During an evening banquet after visiting "The Room of Wonders," where Sensei joined us, a conversation arose.

It turns out that Sensei was the one who "invented" the term "Plesiosaur" (首長竜 - kubinagaryū). Before that, they were called "Long-necked dragons" (長頸龍 - chōkeiryū) or "Serpent-necked dragons" (蛇頸龍 - jakeiryū). When asked why, Sensei simply replied, "Because it's easier to understand." Indeed, "chōkeiryū" would be incomprehensible without the kanji. "Kubinaga" (long-necked) is immediately clear. That makes sense.

 

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Exhibition Catalogs for Dinosaur Exhibitions he authored

Just nostalgic "Great Dinosaur Exhibition / Great Dinosaur Expo." For details, please see New Treasure House Vol.36.

 

 

The next day, after another museum visit, we were scheduled to have lunch with Sensei, so we decided to use the remaining time to visit the nearby zoo. Iida City is a compact town, and within a 10-minute walk from our hotel, there's the museum, the zoo, the Kihachiro Kawamoto Puppet Museum, and even Iida Ginza. And at that small, free-entry zoo, we already experienced the blessings of our pilgrimage to "The Room of Wonders."

 

Discovery of a "Wondrous Bird"!

The Crested Screamer was a fairly large bird, but at first glance, it seemed ordinary, and we almost passed it by. However, my eyes caught a signboard that read, "It has sharp claws on its wings and uses them for fighting," which astonished me.

 

Among extant birds with claws on their wings, the Hoatzin is famous, featured on "Darwin Is Coming" with catchy titles like "A Living Archaeopteryx!?" However, the Hoatzin's claws are lost as it matures, and the adult bird becomes a plain bird. When I searched online for "birds with claws on wings," I found another bird called the Spur-winged Lapwing, which has a curious face and quite impressive single claws, but it lacked a bit of impact. Actually, ratites like emus are said to have a single hidden claw on their wings, but it seems to be a vestigial organ and not used.

 

Our screamer bird's name doesn't appear on bird enthusiast pages online. It seems to be largely unknown. Wikipedia states the following:

Furthermore, it is the only extant bird that lacks the uncinate process on its ribs.

In the "Diversity" section, it also touches upon the uncinate processes of non-avian dinosaurs, which is interesting, but many aspects are difficult to determine from fossils.

 

Screamer birds, they're no ordinary creatures...

 

Now, take a good look at the photo.

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If attacked by such impressive claws, visible even when the wings are folded, it would be quite a predicament. Furthermore, though not visible in the photo, it is said to have two claws on each wing, totaling four. Despite being a herbivore (occasionally eating insects), its sharp beak, piercing eyes, and strong-looking legs standing still made me superimpose the image of an oviraptorosaur. It's a bird that dinosaur fans would want to see at least once, but unfortunately, this is the only Crested Screamer in Japan. Black-necked Screamers are reportedly only kept at Neo Park Okinawa.

Even encountering such a rare dinosaur-like bird was ultimately thanks to Sensei. Speaking of Sensei, he seems very keen on riding the linear motor car that is scheduled to open in four years and will pass near Iida City. Knowing Sensei, I'm sure it will come true.

 

*The screamer bird encyclopedia is a clear file souvenir from the zoo. It's quite good!

 

Changing the topic, dinosaur plastic models seem to be doing well recently for some reason. In particular, BANDAI is continuously releasing new products with its two lines: Plannosaurus and Imaginary Skeleton series. Besides those, there's Kaiyodo's T-Rex parent and child with the Tower of the Sun featuring the Tree of Life, X-Plus's JP T-Rex attack scene diorama, and Wave's Futabasaurus. My house has accumulated quite a stack of plastic model boxes. I plan to build all of these before the next Secret Treasure House update. To get into the spirit, I tried building a Plannosaurus and an Imaginary Skeleton Mosasaurus.

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For the Imaginary one, I think the main body is well-made, except for the slightly unnatural connection of the spine, but I wish the base had been made a little more carefully. For example, since it's a dead ammonite, they could have tried to express a hollow feeling, or made it look slightly buried in the sand, or added the typical Mosasaurus bite marks... For the Plannosaurus, only the skeleton is colored, and the living body is in a temporary assembly state using sticky tack. Initially, I thought about incorporating joints inside so it could be played with using only the outer skin, but that ended up being just a pipe dream.

 

Finally, as a declaration of my determination for next time, let me show you the "Tree of Life" parts of the "Tower of the Sun" that arrived the other day.

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It's packed with ancient creatures like Mastodonsaurus, Mesosaurus, armored fish, plesiosaurs, mammoths, Trachodon, etc., but all of them, except for the Brontosaurus, are smaller than half the size of a 100-yen coin. It looks like it will be tough to remove them from the runner without damage, and if a part flies off and gets lost, it'll probably never be found again. Will I be able to assemble it properly? Will I be able to paint the different colors?

Stay tuned.