The Museum lends its specimens to other museums as well as university and other research facilities, to make these resources widely available for research purposes. We also lend them to be used in the exhibitions of other museums and similar institutions.

Lending Procedures

The Museum is pleased to lend out its specimens for research purposes. However, loans of specimens are only provided after extensive examination of the purpose of the loan, the institution with which the requesting researchers are affiliated, the borrower's readiness to house and care for the specimens appropriately, and so forth.

Lending officer:

Keiichi Matsuura

matsuura@kahaku.go.jp

Procedure

• Contact the lending officer as above, clearly indicating the name and institutional affiliation of the person wishing to borrow the specimens.
• Explain in simple terms the purpose of the loan and the research for which the specimens are to be used. Indicate the type and quantity of specimens desired, region and period from which they were collected, and other attributes as necessary such as size and sex.
• If you know the specimen numbers of the specimens you wish to borrow, indicate them.
• The Museum cannot lend out all of its specimens of a single category/species at once. In principle only half of such specimens can be lent out at any time; the remaining specimens are lent out only after the first specimens are returned.
• If you wish to dissect the specimen, please first obtain the express written consent of the lending officer. Permission to dissect specimens is sometimes granted if the Museum has a surplus of the specimens in question.

Note on specimen identification

In common with other museums around the world, our specimen identification system suffers from certain limitations due to the large number of samples we handle. Please note the possibility that some of the specimens we lend out may not be correctly identified. Similarly, bear in mind that synonyms may exist for the specimens you wish to borrow. Some specimens may be identified under a different scientific name.