Tagawa Suiho・Norakuro Museum, Biographical and comics museum in Morishita, Japan
The Tagawa Suiho Norakuro Museum is a museum in Morishita dedicated to works by manga artist Tagawa Suiho and his most famous creation. The collection presents original drawings, handwritten manuscripts, and personal items that document the character's development from early versions through later iterations.
Tagawa Suiho created Norakuro in 1931 during a period when military themes were gaining prominence in Japanese society. The museum opened in 1999 and preserves the work of this cartoonist whose stories reflected the attitudes and interests of that era.
The name Norakuro means black dog, referring to the character who entertained millions of children through magazines in the 1930s. The stories show what entertainment for young readers looked like and which themes artists found compelling at that time.
The museum occupies the first floor of the Morishita Cultural Center at 3-12-17 Morishita, Koto Ward. It is closed on the first and third Monday of each month and over the New Year period, December 28 to January 4. Reach it in about ten minutes on foot from exit A6 of Morishita Station on the Toei Shinjuku and Oedo lines, or from Kiyosumi-shirakawa Station on the Oedo line.
The museum shows how Norakuro changed during its publication, shifting from humorous adventures to increasingly military-themed narratives. This transformation visible in the drawings and manuscripts reveals, unintentionally, how the magazine itself adapted to offer readers new kinds of stories.
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