Junichiro Tanzaki Literary Memorial Museum, Ashiya

About

The Ashiya City Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Memorial Museum of Literature opened on October 8, 1988, to preserve materials related to novelist Jun'ichiro Tanizaki (1886-1965) and honor his achievements. It stands in the Ise-cho district of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, a city where Tanizaki lived from 1934 to 1936. The building, designed by the Tomiie architectural office, is a two-story reinforced-concrete structure modeled on the sukiya-style residences Tanizaki favored. A 15-ton garden stone beside the entrance was brought from Tanizaki's former residence in Kobe; it had washed into the property during the Great Hanshin Flood. The museum holds and displays items donated by Tanizaki's family, including the desk, inkstone, brushes, and artworks he used.