Osamu Dazai Memorial Museum
The Osamu Dazai Memorial Museum (太宰治記念館, Dazai Osamu Kinenkan), also commonly referred to as Shayōkan (斜陽館), is a writer's home museum located in the Kanagi area of Goshogawara in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It is dedicated to the late author Osamu Dazai, who spent some of his early childhood in Kanagi, and houses antique furniture, ornaments and a collection of Osamu Dazai's works.
太宰治記念館 | |
 Osamu Dazai Memorial Museum (May 2022) | |
  Location within Aomori Prefecture  Osamu Dazai Memorial Museum (Japan) | |
| Established | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40.9027°N 140.4555°E |
| Website | dazai |
The building was built in 1907 by Dazai's father, who was a wealthy landowner and member of the Japanese Diet during the Meiji period.[1] Dazai lived in this house from 1909 until 1923, when he moved to the city of Aomori; however, he returned on a number of occasions, and moved back to the house from 1942 to 1945. After his death in 1948, the house was sold, and was remodelled into a ryokan, with a small private memorial museum to the author. The name Shayōkan was taken from one of Dazai's novels. The inn suffered from deteriorating finances despite its popularity with fans of the author, and it was sold to the town of Kanagi in 1996. After extensive remodelling to restore its original appearance, it was reopened as the Dazai Osamu Memorial Museum in 1998.
The building is a two-story wooden structure, and is made mostly of hiba wood, for which Aomori is famous. There are 11 rooms downstairs and 8 rooms upstairs,[2] plus a number of attached buildings (kura and a Japanese garden with a spring water. Although the appearance of the building is that of a traditional Japanese-style house, it contains a number of Western features, notably in the design of its staircase and the truss structure of the roof.
The building is registered as an Important Cultural Property.[3] It is featured alongside a caricature of Dazai on the postmark for Kanagi.[4]
References
- "Shayokan: Dazai Osamu Memorial Museum aptinet Aomori Sightseeing Guide". En-Aomori.com. March 12, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
- "Aomori's Shayōkan Museum: Writer Dazai Osamu's Childhood Home". nippon.com. July 25, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- "旧津島家住宅 主屋 文化遺産オンライン". Bunka.NII.ac.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved February 1, 2018.
- "金木郵便局" [Kanagi Post Office] (in Japanese). Japan Post. 1 March 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
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