Museum of Stones and Kenji, Biographical and mineralogical museum in Ichinoseki, Japan.
The Museum of Stones and Kenji brings together the life and works of author Kenji Miyazawa with mineral specimens from the Iwate Prefecture region. The exhibits include manuscripts, documents, and rock samples collected from the local area.
The museum opened on 3 April 1999 to preserve the history of the former Tōhoku Crushed Stone Factory, founded in 1924 and shut down in 1978. Kenji Miyazawa worked at the plant, and the site keeps the old factory and its tunnel as part of the museum.
The museum reveals how author Kenji Miyazawa saw nature and wrote about it, linking his stories to local stones and minerals. Visitors can explore the connection between his literary imagination and the geological world around him.
The museum sits just a short walk from Rikuchu Matsukawa Station, making it easy to reach by train. Plan some time to explore both the biographical section and the mineral exhibition room at a comfortable pace.
The museum occupies the former Tohoku Crushed Stone Factory, which opened in 1924 and stopped operating in 1978. Its four parts are the old factory and its tunnel, the House of Sun and Wind, the Soshido library and a rest room about Kenji and Tozo. In 2018 a collaboration with Haruko Ichikawa's manga Land of the Lustrous ran from 1 April to 19 July.
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