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Yushukan

General Information

Japanese Name: 遊就館
Address: Tokyo-to Chiyoda-ku Kudankita 3-1-1
Japanese Address: 東京都千代田区九段北３ー１ー１
Phone Number: 03 3261 8326
Online: http://www.yasukuni.jp/~yusyukan/ \\English site: http://www.yasukuni.or.jp/english/yushukan.html
Database Search: None online.
Opening Times: March-October 9-17:30 November-February 9-17
Closed:
Information Last Confirmed: September 30th, 2003

Directions

The museum is about 8 minutes walk from Ichigaya, Iidabashi, and Kudanshita stations. From Kudanshita (九段下) station on the Tozai, Shinjuku, and Hanzomon subway lines take Exit #1. When you emerge onto the street above, walk up the hill (with a large park across the street to your left). You will find the huge torii gate for Yasukuni Shrine directly ahead of you. Walk through this gate and continue until you reach the interior of the shrine. The museum is located to the right of the main shrine buildings. Usage

The museum costs 800 yen, 500 yen for university students and high school students, and 300 yen for elementary school students or small children. The ticket can be used throughout the day (but on re-entering the museum, show your ticket rather than putting it through the electronic ticket gate). Cameras and recording devices are not allowed inside.

Facilities

The museum consists of over a dozen exhibition rooms, two movie theaters (one of which shows an hour long documentary ever hour, on the hour starting 10-16 on the second floor near the entrance). There is also a large room containing weapons, planes, and other war materials, guest-book signing room, and a Video room. The video room has two computers and three video booths with dozens of short videos on various topics related to history and the shrine. There is also a bookstore and souvenir shop as well as a cafeteria near the entrance/exit.

Computers: 2 in the video viewing room.
Vending Machines: There is a rest room on the second floor with two drink vending machines.
Nearby Food: The cafeteria inside the museum is pricey. There are some simple soba and snack stands around the shrine and some restaurants to the left of the shrine as you enter but all in all the pickings are slim. There are coffee shops and convenience stores to the left of the shrine as you enter.

Collections of Note

In addition to the historical narrative retold in various panels, chronologies, and pictures mostly covering modern Japanese military history, each exhibition room displays letters, uniforms, and other material objects from Japan's various wars. The weapons and war materials that were the most prominent feature of the museum prior to its renovation are now mostly housed in the last room of the exhibit.

Other Related Links

• http://www.chinajapan.org/sites/yushukan/ - A site reviewing the museum and focusing on the museum's theme of Japan's liberation of Asia from Western imperialism.

Other Notes, Comments and Experiences

• See my review of the museum at the link above for some quotes and thoughts about the historical presentation of the museum. I recommend visitors eat a good meal before going, bring a drink with them, and allocate about 3 hours to go through the museum if they want to examine the displays closely. The 2nd floor can by itself exhaust you, even more so if you view the hour long propaganda movie 「私たちは忘れないー感謝と祈りと誇りをー」Most of the displays have generally excellent English translations but neither is everything translated nor is it always entirely in synch with the Japanese content. The bookstore on the way out is probably the best selection of right-wing revisionist publications available anywhere in Japan for those who are interested in collecting such materials. - K. M. Lawson (Last Visited: 2004)
• There is talk of Yushukan changing the content of its displayed, perhaps partly in response to American pressure. I'm not sure when this change will take place or if it has since I visited in 2004. - K. M. Lawson