Hiroshima: Microscopic Yamato Battleship Model Proves a Big Hit at Kure Museum

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:18 JST, September 27, 2025

KURE, Hiroshima — A microscopic model of the World War II battleship Yamato is on display at the Yamato Museum Satellite in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture — despite being too small to be seen with the naked eye.

At just 0.263 millimeters long, it is a 1:1 million scale re-creation of the original vessel.

The Yamato was completed at a military factory in Kure in 1941 using many of the most advanced shipbuilding and steelmaking technologies of the time. The 263-meter-long ship — the largest warship of its kind ever built — was armed with nine 460 mm naval guns, but was sunk on April 7, 1945, as it sailed toward Okinawa.

A 1:10 scale model of the Yamato is a highlight exhibit of the Yamato Museum in Kure and has been popular with visitors since the facility opened in April 2005. The museum has been closed since February for renovations designed to ease visitor congestion. The Yamato Museum Satellite was established nearby as a substitute facility until the renovations are completed in March.

The tiny Yamato was made to be a key exhibit at the substitute facility. The model took about three months to make using submicron 3D printing technology, with key details such as the battleship’s 460 mm guns, propellers and flagstaffs on the bow and stern re-created.

The replica can be viewed using a magnifying lens, or by looking at an image from a digital microscope with 200 times magnification.

The world’s smallest Yamato certainly is causing plenty of jaws to drop.

“Today’s technology is amazing,” one visitor said as they peered through the magnifying lens, while another added: “Wow! It’s so small!”