Japan-U.S. Friendship Memorial Museum, Maritime history museum in Kushimoto, Japan.

The Japan-U.S. Friendship Memorial Museum is a town-run museum on Kashinozaki, on Kii Oshima in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, built just north of Raiko-no-hama, the beach where the American merchant ships Lady Washington and Grace anchored in 1791. Inside, a diorama recreates the scene of that port call, shown alongside a model of the Lady Washington, documents and photographs.

The site marks where American merchant ships first reached Japanese waters and made contact with Japanese residents. This encounter happened decades before the more well-known arrival of foreign vessels later changed Japan.

The museum shows how American sailors and local Japanese residents first met and interacted during that encounter. The exhibitions highlight what that initial meeting meant to the people living in Kushimoto at the time.

The museum stands on the north side of Raiko-no-hama beach on Kii-Oshima, at Kashinozaki in Kushimoto. From JR Kushimoto Station take the Kumano Kotsu bus bound for Kashino Todai-guchi for 40 minutes, get off at Kashino and walk 10 minutes. The building is municipal and the displays are indoors.

The museum features detailed dioramas that recreate the exact scene of the first meeting between the ships. These handcrafted reconstructions help visitors step into that historical moment and see it as it unfolded.