The is a small museum in

Kamakura, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, that contains material about writers who have lived, died, or were active in the city of Kamakura itself. The museum displays personal effects, manuscripts, first editions, and documents owned by well over a hundred writers of

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japanes ...

, including

Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels ''Kokoro'', '' Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', '' Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work '' Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer ...

and

Kawabata Yasunari was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal an ...

, as well as film director

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...

. The villa that hosts the museum, its large garden and its rose garden are also of great interest. The plaque in front of the villa says:

Kamakura Museum of Literature (a villa of the old, noble Maeda family)
The house was erected in 1936 by
Toshinari Maeda , was a Japanese general and the first commander of the Japanese forces in northern Borneo (Sarawak, Brunei, Labuan, and North Borneo) in World War II. Biography Maeda Toshinari was born the fifth son of the former ''daimyō'' of Nanokaichi Doma ...
(前田利為), the 16th head of the Maeda family, (part of the Kaga clan). It stands half way up a hill in Kamakura, overlooking
Sagami Bay lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while the ...
. It represents the villa architecture of those days.
Eisaku Satō was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister from 1964 to 1972. He is the third-longest serving Prime Minister, and ranks second in longest uninterrupted service as Prime Minister. Satō entered the National Diet in 1949 as a membe ...
, a former
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
and
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
winner, once made use of it as his villa. It also appeared in a scene from "
Spring Snow is a novel by Yukio Mishima, the first in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. It was published serially in ''Shinchō'' from 1965 to 1967, and then in book form in 1969. Mishima did extensive research, including visits to Enshō-ji in Nara, to ...
", a novel by
Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...
, a well-known novelist. It opened to the public as Kamakura Museum of Literature in November 1985. The Main Building of the Kamakura Museum of Literature was registered as a National Registered Tangible Property in April 2000.

Museum data

* Access: 7 minutes on foot from

Enoden The is a private railway in Japan which connects Kamakura Station in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura with Fujisawa Station in Fujisawa, Kanagawa. Stations en route include , the stop closest to Kōtoku-in, the temple with the colossal outdoor statue ...

's Yuigahama station or 3 minutes from the ''Kaigan Dōri'' stop of the bus from Kamakura station to Fujisawa * Open: from 9 to 5 between March and September, from 9 to 16:30 the rest of the year * Ticket price: 400 yen. Extra fee for special exhibitions * Address: Kamakura Museum of Literature, Hase 1-5-3, 〒 248-0016 Kamakura, Kanagawa

References

External links

''Kamakura Trip'' website
"Kamakura Museum of Literature" page (in English) {{authority control Buildings and structures in Kamakura, Kanagawa Museums established in 1985 Museums in Kanagawa Prefecture Literary museums in Japan Biographical museums in Japan 1985 establishments in Japan