Naruto City German Pavilion

Roy Chan 7 months ago

A lesser-known tourist spot (I assume) - this museum showed the history of how the German prisoners in WWI stayed in Japan - and were able to live harmoniously with the locals. Interesting piece of local history and really worthy to come here and have a look. There were parking lots just next to the museum.

Stephanie C (StephySays) a year ago

Bottom line- if you're interested in history and in the area, you will enjoy it. If you don't care much for history, just want to see European architecture, or will be disappointed by a lack of English information, skip it. •Exhibits- The animatronic musical performance was nice, if not a little kitschy. The music is kind of interesting because there were no women in the choir, you can hear Beethoven's 9th Symphony with only male voices. There were interesting photos and models throughout. •Languages- All displays have Japanese, most have German, and some randomly have English. The animatronic performance and accompanying video are narrated in Japanese with German subtitles. Because of this, I was hungry for more information, and decided to try to look more up later; there was a bit to be learned from the English available, but some important pieces were missing. •History that I could make out, whether through English information or my broken Japanese- the German soldiers were captured in China in WWI and were brought here; this camp was heralded throughout the world as being a humane POW camp; the soldiers seemed to live in the town almost as regular citizens (?); most of the soldiers captured knew some other trade or skill, so they taught them to the local Japanese residents in exchange for the locals' trades; the prisoners performed Beethoven's 9th Symphony for the first time in Japan. •Gift shop- mostly German imports: chocolate, snacks, pickles, sauerkraut, salad dressing, beer, etc. They had Easter chocolates when I went in March. There is a cafe just outside of the grounds that has some Japanese-German and Japanese options.

Durjoy Arzu a year ago

There were about 3,900 mostly German and some Austrian prisoners of war during world war I. They were treated well by the Japanese authority and the prisoners also showed their skills and abilities through practicing science, arts, music, sports, agriculture etc. The museum is to keep those memories and learnings throughout generations.

Ahlin G 3 years ago

It’s a fun visit if you’re interested in historical Japan and it’s foreign relations with Germany during and right after the war. There were a few areas that had English descriptions but most of the exhibits only had Japanese and German. There’s a little cafe outside that serves food. I recommend trying it out too. PS: Photography is not allowed inside.

Vlad Gulfan 4 years ago

Very good for educational purposes. Just need to have an English translator for the tour. Highly recommended to visit