Memorial Museum for Agricultural Emigrants to Manchuria, History museum in Achi, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
The Memorial Museum for Agricultural Emigrants to Manchuria is a single-storey museum in Komba, Achi, with a dark brown slatted facade and a grey tiled roof. A low brick wall in front holds a sign reading "満蒙開拓平和記念". Inside, eight exhibition sections cover the history of the Manchurian settlement programme.
The museum opened in April 2013 in Komba, Achi, the village that sent more emigrants to Manchuria than any other in Japan. Plans began in 2006 within the Iida Japan-China Friendship Association, and a 2009 agreement merged it with the Yamamoto Jishō memorial project. A seminar wing with a 120-seat room opened in 2019.
The museum's name refers to the Manchurian Pioneers, farmers sent from Nagano Prefecture, which supplied more settlers than any other region. Exhibits cover the group's departure, the flight after the Soviet invasion of 9 August 1945, and the experiences of Chinese orphans and foster parents. A monk from Achi, Yamamoto Jishō, worked for the return of these orphans.
The museum is in Komba, Achi, Nagano Prefecture, and opens from 9:30 to 16:30. It closes on Tuesdays (or the following day if Tuesday is a holiday), on the second and fourth Wednesdays, and over the New Year period. A seminar building completed in 2019 seats about 120 people and includes a video room for around 40.
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited in 2016, and a monument commemorating the visit was erected the following year. The museum also keeps materials on the Achi village monk Yamamoto Jishō, who worked for the return of Japanese orphans left in China.
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