Hokkaido Museum (北海道博物館, Hokkaidō Hakubutsukan) was opened in Sapporo in 2015. Located within Nopporo Shinrin Kōen Prefectural Natural Park, the permanent exhibition is dedicated to the nature, history, and culture of Hokkaido.
The Main Exhibition introduces two concepts: “Hokkaido as Part of Northeast Asia” and “The Interrelationships of Nature and Humans” through five themes integrating Hokkaido’s nature, history, and culture. Hokkaido is often seen as northernmost reaches of Japan, but from the broader perspective of northeast Asia, Hokkaido appears differently. It is common to see civilization and its natural environment as two separate entities, but understanding the interrelationships between humans and nature provides a new perspective. Understanding Hokkaido’s past and present will provide insights to its future.
The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains: the extraordinary system contains fifty-one fountains and nymphaeums, 398 spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls, and 220 basins, fed by 875 meters of canals, channels and cascades, and all working entirely by the force of gravity, without pumps. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Tivoli had been a popular summer residence since ancient Roman times due to its altitude, cooler temperatures and its proximity to the Villa Hadriana, the summer residence of the Emperor Hadrian I.
The Villa was commissioned by Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (1509-1572), second son of Alfonso I d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara and grandson of Pope Alexander VI, along with Lucrezia Borgia.