Cosmo Isle Hakui opened its doors on July 1st, 1996. Architecturally, this space science museum's three floors were constructed under a large metallic dome, designed to resemble a flying saucer. At the entrance stands a genuine Mercury Redstone rocket (MR7) greeting Cosmo Isle's visitors.

The name Cosmo Isle Hakui is derived from Uchu no Dejima, Japanese for "Space Island." This space science museum's exhibits are based on the themes humankind and space, SETI-the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and UFO phenomena. Also housed is a UFO Information Library (videos and text available in English) and Cosmo Theater, Japan's first Digistar II planetarium. As a municipal facility, Cosmo Isle Hakui has a large performance hall seating 900, a smaller conference hall, several meeting rooms, and the city's public library.