Osaka University of Arts The Osaka University of Arts Animal Diorama Museum “Geidai Zoo” will open on Wednesday, October 1st after an opening ceremony!

[Osaka University of Arts] The Osaka University of Arts Animal Diorama Museum “Geidai Zoo” will open on Wednesday, October 1st, following a commemorative opening ceremony! ​ Osaka University of Arts Press Release: October 31, 2025 The Osaka University of Arts Animal Diorama Museum “Geidai Zoo” will open on Wednesday, October 1st, following a commemorative opening ceremony! ■Exhibiting a valuable taxidermy collection from the former Shiga Safari Museum. A place for students to engage in practical learning and creative activities. Osaka University of Arts (Tsukamoto Gakuin Educational Corporation / Location: Minamikawachi District, Osaka Prefecture / President: Kunihiko Tsukamoto) held the “Osaka University of Arts Exhibition” on Wednesday, October 1st, featuring stuffed animals from Africa and North America. The opening ceremony for the Geidai Zoo, an animal diorama museum, was held in Building 31 on the university’s campus. The main building is composed of three areas, including a diorama recreating the habitats of wild animals in Africa. It displays 58 stuffed animals, 35 heads, nine furs, and nine sets of horns and bones. It is an exhibition hall where visitors can get up close and personal with the lives of a diverse range of animals. At the ceremony, Vice President Tsukamoto Hidekuni, Professor Kenji Wakao, head of the liberal arts program and the museum’s exhibit and design, and Yukihisa Kondo, former director of the Shiga Safari Museum, who donated the stuffed animals, all spoke of the joy of the museum’s opening and the value of the collection. This was followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a preview, and a gallery talk by Professor Wakao, which generated much excitement in the venue.
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■About the Osaka University of Arts Animal Diorama Museum “Geidai Zoo” The newly opened “Geidai Zoo” is based on an extremely valuable collection of taxidermy animals donated by Yukihisa Kondo, former director of the Shiga Safari Museum. The museum features diorama and taxidermy exhibits. The dioramas are divided into three zones: “African Grasslands,” home to zebras, giraffes, and white rhinos; “African Forest,” which recreates the ecology of bongos and oribis in highland and hilly forests; and “Rocky Grasslands: Africa,” where you can see the habitats of giant elands, kobs, and oryx. The realistic dioramas and the vibrant, lifelike animals enhance the sense of immersion. In the taxidermy exhibition room, a wapiti with its antlers butting against each other takes center stage, creating a truly impressive sight. A variety of animals are displayed by species, with heads and furs adorning the walls. The focus is on goats like the Altai antler and Siberian ibex, and deer like elk and reindeer, but you can also see predators like American black bears, polar bears, and Nile crocodiles. With the exception of a few exhibits, the dioramas and this exhibit are not fenced off, allowing visitors to get a close-up look at the animals’ fur and muscles, a major feature of the exhibit. This “Geidai Zoo,” a treasured asset for Osaka University of Arts, is expected to become a place for practical learning and creative activities that transcends the boundaries of various departments on campus, including fine arts, design, and film. Image
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/44215/206/44215-206-9058b919b52cd14086c0c4b55a4c8368-455×304.jpg ■ Background to the opening of “Geidai Zoo” The main building was opened after a fateful encounter between Kondo, who ran the Shiga Safari Museum in Koka City, Shiga Prefecture, and Professor Kenji Wakao, head of the liberal arts program, and the two developed a strong relationship. The Shiga Safari Museum opened in 1995 as a private museum run by Kondo’s father, Yukihiko Kondo, who served as the museum’s first director. Over the years, he exhibited taxidermy specimens of animals he had hunted around the world. After his death, Yukihisa Kondo took over as director, and the museum enjoyed great popularity for approximately 30 years. However, the museum closed in May 2025, much to the regret of many.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/44215/206/44215-206-deb1f4354db0d06ad756c0260e9b9bc9-421×281.jpg Exterior of Geidai Zoo In 2020, Professor Wakao happened to come across the Shiga Safari Museum while driving. As he approached, he discovered it was closed for the Saturday. However, the director’s wife was cleaning the building, allowing him special permission to enter. He was surprised by the high quality of the stuffed animals on display, and while talking with the Kondos, they began discussing what to do with the animals after the museum closed. After discussions between Professor Wakao and the university, it was decided to donate the animals to the university. The “Geidai Zoo” was established as an exhibition facility, and the stuffed animals were moved to the campus in July 2025. ■Scenes from the Opening Ceremony Vice President Tsukamoto, Professor Wakao, and Kondo took the stage at the
commemorative ceremony. Vice President Tsukamoto, who opened the ceremony, expressed his gratitude to Kondo for donating the stuffed animals and stated his hope to use the Geidai Zoo for educational purposes, such as as a motif for sketches and a subject for
storytelling. Next on stage, Mr. Kondo spoke about how he met Professor Wakao when it was becoming difficult for him to maintain the museum on his own, and expressed his gratitude that his father’s collection would be preserved and exhibited at Osaka University of Arts.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/44215/206/44215-206-5ee4b2fba0eb68b5ab27759783c5ba2d-671×447.jpg The ribbon cutting ceremony Finally, Professor Wakao, who was in charge of the museum’s exhibits and design, took the stage. He spoke about his desire to make effective use of the stuffed animals he received from Kondo, and the background behind the photography he undertook in Africa for the dioramas in preparation for the museum’s opening. After the three speakers’ speeches, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held, joined by Tsukamoto Academy’s Executive Director Shinichi Kameya, Director Akira Kudo, and Director Osamu Goto. Amidst a loud fanfare, Geidai Zoo officially opened. ■Preview and gallery talk by Professor Wakao After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the preview began. Students, staff, and members of the press, eagerly awaiting the opening, streamed inside, and visitors were all amazed by the realism of the stuffed animals. During Professor Wakao’s gallery talk, he shared stories about the creation of the diorama. He particularly focused on taking background photographs taken in Africa and making the seams appear natural. To more accurately represent the species, he decided to use photographs instead of drawings, and traveled to the African habitat to take photographs, using these photos to create the background.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/44215/206/44215-206-c43dc6173732b8f319c264e448ae70f7-287×192.png Professor Wakao’s gallery talk In addition, the height of the ground was repeatedly adjusted to blend in with the background of the photograph. The diorama, with its meticulous attention to detail, including the grass and rocks, feels completely natural, and just looking at it makes you feel as if you’re in Africa. The giraffes were particularly difficult to display, and due to the height issue, they had to come up from a terrace. He also mentioned the importance of exhibiting rare animals that cannot currently be seen in Japan, such as bongos. ■Speaker’s comments Comment from Vice President Hidekuni Tsukamoto The newly opened “Geidai Zoo” was made possible by the kind offer of Mr. Kondo, former director of the Shiga Safari Museum, who said, “I would be delighted to donate this to the university.” This, combined with our shared desire to use the animals as teaching materials for our students, made this a reality. The impact of the real thing is truly incomparable. These stuffed animals can be used in a variety of ways, such as for studying fur and sketching, or as material for creating your own stories. We hope that teachers will use them in their classes, and that students will also actively use them as teaching materials.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/44215/206/44215-206-ed92a8a331cae480ff7ab2d9b0881d70-526×531.jpg Yukihisa Kondo, Former Director of Shiga Safari Museum Comments Congratulations on the opening of the Geidai Zoo. The stuffed animals on display at the museum were originally housed at the Shiga Safari Museum, where I served as director, and were transferred to Osaka University of Arts. They were donated and relocated, and I am truly pleased that thanks to Professor Wako’s connection, they will be available for viewing even after the zoo has closed. My wife, who was the first to speak with Professor Wako, unfortunately passed away in June 2025, but I believe she is equally excited about the opening.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/44215/206/44215-206-47d59a1f0093543bf2f006a315aad591-519×531.jpg The stuffed wild animals were collected by my father during his hunting expeditions. Since the 1970s, he has been capturing them with government permission from around the world. Many of them are now rare, and it is said to be extremely rare to find a bongo, one of the world’s four most rare animals, and a breed of sheep known as one of the world’s three most rare sheep, all in one place. It is truly a miracle that the stuffed animals that my father had so cherished have been relocated and properly stored, and I am eternally grateful to Professor Wakao and everyone at Osaka University of Arts for taking them all in. In the future, the diorama will be open to students and the general public, and we hope it will contribute to education. Come experience the lives of animals up close in this faithfully recreated African landscape. Comment from Professor Kenji Wakao, Chair of the Liberal Arts Program The birth of “Geidai Zoo” dates back to a chance encounter in early 2020 between me and Mr. and Mrs. Kondo, former directors of the Shiga Safari Museum. While driving through Shiga Prefecture, I never imagined that such a museum would exist in Koka City, and I was amazed by the high quality of the stuffed animals on display inside. At the time, I told Mr. Kondo’s wife, who was helping me, that I was teaching at Osaka University of Arts and that I was a zoo designer who had also worked on the savanna exhibits at Tennoji Zoo and the panda exhibits at Ueno Zoo.She made an unexpected request, asking if the university could take the stuffed animals and make use of them, so I reported this to Vice President Tsukamoto and we went to see the exhibit together again.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/44215/206/44215-206-bd16b75307f709ca952e2227b6047fb6-519×544.jpg Subsequently, the decision was made to remove the stuffed animals, and construction work began on converting the Department of Performing Arts’ former practice space into a museum. As a zoo designer, I considered how to best utilize the stuffed animals and designed a diorama. Typically, taxidermy dioramas involve drawing the background in perspective, but for a more accurate depiction, I decided to use photography. For background photos, I brought along the Department of Photography’s high-resolution camera and took them to the Masai Mara Conservancy in Kenya and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, an unprecedented approach. The animals are also positioned slightly higher than the audience’s eye level, creating a more powerful impression. The resulting “Geidai Zoo” exhibits many rare animals that cannot currently be seen in Japanese zoos. No other university in the world has such an exhibition hall. In the future, we hope that students from various departments will utilize the space, whether it be for drawing motifs for art students, photography practice, or animal character design. We hope that it will become a place where students from various departments can cultivate their artistic expression and stimulate their sensibilities. ■Overview Facility Name: “Osaka University of Arts Animal Diorama Museum ‘Geidai Zoo'” Location: Osaka University of Arts, Building 31 Address: 469 Higashiyama, Kawachi-cho, Minamikawachi-gun, Osaka Prefecture Opening Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM (during regular school hours) Access: JR Tennoji Station, Osaka Metro Tennoji Station Approximately 25 minutes on the Kintetsu Minami Osaka Line or Nagano Line from Kintetsu Osaka Abenobashi Station Get off at Kishi Station Take the free school bus or community bus from Kishi Station Take the bus bound for Chikatsu Asuka Museum for about 10 minutes and get off at Higashiyama stop 【Entry Notice】 University members may visit by presenting their student or faculty/staff ID. Those from outside the university who wish to visit (including alumni) must fill out a tour application form at the General Affairs Division and obtain permission to enter. https://www.osaka-geidai.ac.jp/guide/museum/geidaizoo Press release attachments