Japanese Star Sand

Name: Japanese Star Sand
Brand: Stemcell Science Shop
SKU: JA-0120
Price: 13.00 USD
Availability: InStock

$13.00

150 reviews

This “sand” is actually not sand at all. Rather than rock fragments, it is made of tiny, star-shaped exoskeletons.

Each piece is a exoskeleton of a tiny sea creature from the Foraminifera group. These amoeba-like organisms have existed for about 542 million years, and over 50,000 species are known.

Their innumerable remains can be found on some beaches, but only a few beaches in the world are made of star sand. This particular sample is from Ishigaki Island in Okinawa, Japan.

Foraminifera are useful as index fossils, which means they can be used to date rock formations reliably. They are particularly helpful for the Permian, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Cenozoic time periods.

We recommend examining them under a magnifier or microscope for a closer look.

Container Dimensions: 1.75" x .25"

Acrylic Container

Sourced from Japan

Made of Microorganisms

All fossils are 100% authentic. We only source from the most reputable collectors, excavators, and paleontologists.

This item was previously featured in our Matter Science Box

Free Shippingon orders over $50

Science Education Programs:Every purchase helps fund our guest lectures, science fairs, and community science clubs — bringing real scientific literacy to curious minds of all ages.

Sustainable Small Business: We partner with agroforestry and carbon capture organizations to keep our entire emissions footprint net negative — not just neutral.

Independent Researchers:We source directly from active research labs, so your purchase puts money back into the hands of working scientists.

5 stars: 144 (96%)
4 stars: 6 (4%)
3 stars: 0 (0%)
2 stars: 0 (0%)
1 star: 0 (0%)

Cool item! There were other neat shell fragments in addition to the sand too

Cool little 🌟 stars. Thank you.

Cool little stars ,glad to add to the collection

So very cool. Nice addition to my collection

Fast friendly services

Fast friendly services, good prices, nice selection.

I'm not sure how to rate this. It is like sand. So tiny is hard to see the stars. Very unique item. Thank you! Would be better sold in a tiny corked bottle.

Superbe rondelles d'étoiles. Je l'avais acheté pour un projet personnel. Merci.

Great product love being able to show them off and show everyone very small fossils many people don’t know exist.

Exactly as advertised, amazing container of "star shaped sand" which is really tiny shells! Amazing!

A rare & amazing chance to see this beautiful sand in person! Excellent transaction, thanks.

Item just as pictured/ described.

Arrived quickly, well packed, seems good

Raphaelle gave this item 5 stars

Love it! Item as described, fast shipping, and arrived as scheduled. Thank you!

Great item and came on time.

I’m so happy

I’m super excited with this purchase, the sand pieces are smaller than I thought which is perfect for my project!

Very cool! Just like the pictures. Would definitely buy again 😊

Really cool item. The stars are so tiny

Thoughtfully packed and was an excellent gift. I found it so interesting I ordered one for myself.

Fantastic. Would shop here again.

As described, professional, prompt shipping, I will buy from again and recommend ty ty!

Great science gift, arrived well packaged

Great service

The stars are smaller than I expected, but so beautiful. This goes beautifully with my natural science collection

Super cute and comes with an informative card. My daughter will love it ❤️

Very nice sample. My husband lived in Japan as a child and really appreciated this.

The Star Sand is Fantastic! Came exactly as depicted and perfectly on time to!

A perfect and unique gift at a reasonable price.

Super cool sample, very cool

All pieces carefully packaged and arrived looking in great shape!

This is the second time I have purchased from this company. They are very efficient and their products are packaged very neatly. Quick shipping as well!