Humanitarian museum on how this port town of Tsuruga played a part in helping refugees overseas. Many touching stories on display. Very well designed exhibition rooms. Most area of the museum cannot take photographs. The counter staff will give you dinosaur magnet as souvenir if you're foreigners.
Very amazing museum, it has priceless pieces of History about Poland, Polish Orphans and Jewish refugees from Holacaust.
The museum displays Items related to the Hero who saved thousands of Jewish people during world war 2 Mr. Chihune Sugihara and People like him Mr. Tatsuo Osako who was responsible for transporting the refugees to help them escape and made their life at sea easier.
I had been waiting for the opening of the new Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum after I had visited Kanaus in 2019.
Unfortunately Covid prevented me from visiting it n 2020 when the Museum was opened, just as many witnesses and their families the museum talks about. Despite Japan is often described as a closed society and even xenophobic (which are untrue), the museum tells that it’s not the case, that over the decades Japan and the Japanese people helped and welcomed those in need very badly with open arms.
If something I want the museum to do more, that would be to cooperate and illustrate more informations about Poland, Lithuania, and any other the country where Tsuruga and the people used to help.
Very well maintained place. A place full of historical information. It's amazing that a beautiful place like this saved some many lives.
Tsuruga has been a port town since long time ago. Initially for trade with other parts of Japan and later as a starting point to travel to Vladivostok to catch the trans siberia express. In the 1920’s when Poland was invaded, Tsuruga saw the arrival of about 800 Polish orphans who found safe haven in Japan before they were repatriated a few years later. Then in 1940 Tsuruga acted as the transit port for about 2000 mainly Polish Jews who fled Germany for America and beyond. Very interesting piece of history. During our visit a descendant of one of the refugees traveled from afar to pay tribute. Well worth a visit.
