The purpose of this study was to explore characteristics of natural history museum exhibits from the viewpoint of science education. A total of ninety exhibits for this study were examined in national science museums of Korea and Japan. Exhibits of Tokyo national science museum were again divided into two groups: the old and traditional types, and the new and renovated ones. Even though analyzing data was not undertaken through quantitative statistical process, the interpretation of the data was valid enough to fulfill the purpose of the research. While there were clear changes and differences between the old and the new types of exhibits in Tokyo national science museum, the old part of Tokyo museum was similar to one in Korea. Based on analyzing the new types of Tokyo museum, the current movement in the field of natural history museums of Korea explicitly has toward utilizing more science education concepts and ideas.