The is a small museum in Kamakura, Kanagawa

Kamakura, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, 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

Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...

, including Soseki Natsume and Kawabata Yasunari, as well as film director Yasujiro Ozu

Yasujiro Ozu

was a prominent Japanese film director and script writer. He is known for his distinctive technical style, developed during the silent era. Marriage and family, especially the relationships between the generations, are among the most persistent themes in his body of work...

. 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

Toshinari Maeda

- Notes :...

 (前田利為), the 16th head of the Maeda family, (part of the Kaga clan

Kaga Domain

The was a powerful feudal domain in Kaga, Noto and Etchū Provinces of Japan during the Edo period. The domain was founded by Maeda Toshiie and headed by the Maeda clan. Its income rating, over 1,000,000 koku, was the highest in the nation after the Tokugawa shogunate itself...

). It stands half way up a hill in Kamakura, overlooking Sagami Bay

Sagami Bay

Sagami Bay , also known as the Sagami Gulf or Sagami Sea, lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū, 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 Sato

Eisaku Sato

This article is about the Prime Minister of Japan. For the governor of Fukushima Prefecture of Japan of the same name, see Eisaku Satō ....

, a former Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Japan

The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...

 and Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

 winner, once made use of it as his villa. It also appeared in a scene from "Spring Snow

Spring Snow

is a 1966 novel by Yukio Mishima, the first in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Mishima did extensive research, including visits to Enshō-ji in Nara, to prepare for the novel.-Plot:...

", a novel by Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima

was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...

, 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's Yuigahama station or 3 minutes from the Kaigan Dōri stop of the bus from Kamakura station to Fujisawa
  Fujisawa, Kanagawa
  is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 407,731 and a population density of 5,870 people per km². The total area is 69.51 km²-Geography:...
  
  
• 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
• Telephone: 0467-23-3911