Flyer for the Institute for Chemical Research centenary exhibition

Chemistry in Kyoto: A History of the Institute for Chemical Research

En cartel7 de octubre de 2026 – 29 de noviembre de 2026·400 ¥

Centenary show for Kyoto University's Institute for Chemical Research: synthetic oil, chemical heritage objects, industry spin-offs and today's research.

Comprar entradas

In 1942 the institute was making 200 kg of nitrile rubber a day by Junji Furukawa's method, and a sample of it is now listed as chemical heritage by the Chemical Society of Japan. It is one of four heritage items on show, with the institute's synthetic oil research, the notebooks behind Japan's first high-pressure polyethylene, and Ichiro Sakurada's vinylon, the first synthetic fibre made with Japanese technology.

Three sections follow: the founding years, from a 1915 chemistry lab to the institute in 1926; the postwar boom, when its iron oxide microparticles and crystallised glass went into industry, shown with real examples; and today's work by about 500 staff and students. A corner lets you sit real Center Test chemistry questions on the inventions in the room. The answer key is online, which is more than anyone got in January.

It's in the South Wing's second-floor gallery, on the normal museum ticket: ¥400, ¥300 for university students, free under 18 and over 70. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

No te pierdas

The 1942 nitrile rubber sample
Rubber from the institute's 1942 trial run, made at 200 kg a day by Furukawa's monovinyl acetylene method before production moved to Sumitomo Chemical's Niihama plant.
The vinylon materials
The institute's heritage-listed vinylon set is a fibre-spinning test apparatus and a 1942 plan for a 'wool-like synthetic No. 1' factory, its cover in Sakurada's own hand.
The synthetic oil records
Materials and samples from the institute's cheap iron-catalyst route to synthetic oil, begun in 1927 and run in a full-size reactor at Takikawa, Hokkaido, from 1944.
The polyethylene notebooks
Design drawings, research notebooks and reports from the 1951 to 1953 pilot runs at Kyoto University that started Sumitomo Chemical's polyethylene production.
The entrance-exam corner
Real national Center Test chemistry questions on synthetic rubber, vinylon and polyethylene, to answer after looking at the displays; the answer key is on the museum's website.

Ideal para

Cultura barata
Secretos locales
Entendidos

Con niños

Free for under-18s and for primary, middle and high school students. The quiz corner uses real Center Test chemistry questions, so it is pitched at high-school level.