Magome Bunshimura

In the period from late Taisho to early Showa, many novelists and artists lived over the whole area of Magome and Sanno in Ota City, which was later called the “Magome Bunshimura (Magome Writers’ Village)”.
Leading novelists include Shiro Ozaki, Chiyo Uno, Yasunari Kawabata, Saisei Muroh, Sakutaro Hagiwara, Tatsuji Miyoshi, Jun Sakakiyama, Kinetaro Yoshida, Hanako Muraoka, and Shugoro Yamamoto, with some other artists, such as Kokei Kobayashi, Ryushi Kawabata, and Hasui Kawase as painters and Chouzan Sato as a sculptor.

These novelists depicted Magome in their works.
The town has appeared in many works such as Kazuo Hirotsu’s Showa Shonen no Interi- sakka (Intellectual novelists in early Showa) and Hakushu Kitahara’s Kyororo Uguisu.
Some stories center on Magome.
Shiro Ozaki’s Kuuso Buraku (Fantastic village) and Jun Sakakiyama Magome Bunshimura (Magome Writers’ Village), for example, vividly depict the life at Magome where these novelists used to live.
Painters also enjoyed drawing the rural landscape in Magome. A good example is Hasui Kawase’s masterpiece, Magome no Tsuki (Moon in Magome) (1930).

Now, former houses and ateliers where these novelists and artists used to stay have turned into general residences, and the landscapes that appeared in their works are almost gone.
Signposts are installed nearby the former houses or sites. So why don’t you walk along the area by following these signposts or memorial halls and feel nostalgic for their life?

The museum exhibits materials and cultural properties related to Ota City. It covers various fields, including archaeology, history, and folklore data.
It also contains many materials about Magome Writers’ Village, from which visitors can learn their life and work.

Former residence of Tsuneko Kumagai, a modern female kana calligrapher also known for lecturing to the Empress Michiko, was renovated to exhibit her works.
It contains about 170 works and collects books about calligraphy.

Shiro Ozaki, one of the leading figures in Magome Writers’ Village, lived for most of his life in Ota City. His library, guest room, and study at his former residence built in the very end of his life were reconstructed here.

The former residence of Soho Tokutomi, who is known as a founding publisher of Kokumin noTomo, Japan’s first general-interest magazine, was partly preserved in the memorial hall, where visitors can look at valuable materials such as handwritten manuscripts.
The Soho Park, where the hall is located, will show beautifully colored leaves in autumn.

This museum of great artistry exhibits the works and materials used by Ryushi Kawabata, a painter who breathed new life in the world of Japanese painting with its bold stroke and expression style.