Shiokari Pass Museum, Biographical museum at Shiokari Pass, Wassamu, Japan
The Shiokari Pass Museum is a memorial dedicated to author Ayako Miura, housed in a reconstructed house on a mountain pass in Hokkaido. The museum displays her manuscripts, personal items, and photographs that document her life and literary output across several rooms.
The museum was founded in 1999 to remember a true event from 1909 when a railway worker sacrificed himself to save others. This act of heroism later inspired Miura to write a novel preserving this memory, and the museum was established as a place to honor that story.
The place honors Ayako Miura and her literary focus on sacrifice and human dignity, themes that resonated deeply with Japanese readers. Visitors encounter the worldview of an author who wove profound moral questions into her stories and shaped how people understood these subjects.
The museum is open from April through November, with hours changing between summer and autumn seasons. The location sits at a mountain pass, and visitors should plan for seasonal closures during the colder months of the year.
The museum rooms are arranged to recreate the spaces where the author created her works, with original or reconstructed writing areas on display. Visitors can walk through these work spaces and gain insight into where and how one of Japan's most influential writers developed her ideas.
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