Shiba Ryōtarō Memorial Museum

Shiba Ryōtarō (司馬遼太郎, 1923-1996), one of Japan's best-known and best-loved authors, who wrote many historical novels and essays, worked in this house in Shimokosaka (下小阪) until his death on 12 February 1996. The Shiba Ryōtarō Memorial Foundation (司馬遼太郎記念財団) was created the same year, on 1 November; twelve media companies, Osaka Prefecture and the city of Higashiōsaka (東大阪市) sat on it as directors from the start. It was recognised as a public-interest foundation in 2012.

The museum opened on 1 November 2001: the writer's house and, on the neighbouring plot, a new building by Tadao Ando (安藤忠雄). From the construction on, a public appeal for donations was made under the idea of "building together, growing together" (ともに建て、ともに育てる): about 8,400 individuals, companies and organisations answered it, and their names are engraved on a plaque, except those who asked to remain anonymous.

In 2010 Ando designed a new garden, which did not exist at the opening. A 1:100 model of the museum, made and donated by his office, has been on show since 2012.

Ando started from an image he describes in the museum's catalogue: a space "surrounded by books, wrapped in darkness, with faint light" (蔵書で囲われて、闇に包み込まれたような、かすかな光の空間), in harmony with its surroundings. The building, in exposed reinforced concrete, has one level below ground and two above, and draws a gentle curve, a bow, among the trees. The museum's plot, house and car park included, covers 3,180 m²; the new building stands on a plot of about 1,000 m², covers about 450 m² on the ground and has about 1,000 m² of floor area. Ando's office (安藤忠雄建築研究所) handled design and supervision, and the contractor Zenitaka (銭高組) the construction.

The new part is reached through a curving glass corridor. The ground floor holds the reception, the café and the shops; the basement holds the great library, a hall of about 150 seats and the display cases. The library is an 11-metre wall of books, open over three levels: about 20,000 volumes are shown to give an idea of the roughly 60,000 that Shiba kept at home.

The building received the Governor of Osaka Prize of the Osaka Machinami Awards (大阪まちなみ賞) in 2002, chosen from 117 nominations, then the BCS Prize in 2003, awarded jointly to client, architect and contractor.

This is a museum devoted to a single writer, conceived to be "felt" and "thought about" rather than simply looked at. The great library is its centre: the books are exhibits and must not be touched, and on the table a dialogue notebook (対話ノート) invites each visitor to write down what they felt or thought.

The garden evokes the broadleaf woodland (雑木林) that Shiba loved: camphor trees, shii and kunugi oaks, roses, camellias and magnolias, rape blossom and dandelions. He hardly pulled the weeds and left the fallen leaves, and the garden has stayed that way. A path passes the window of his study, where the fountain pen and the coloured pencils used for revisions are still on the desk; a stone bears a poem in Shiba's own hand.

The display cases host exhibitions related to his work, changed about every six months; the 150-seat hall is used for lectures, concerts and film screenings, and otherwise shows films about the writer. At the reception, a film of about seven minutes shows the books of the house (library, corridor, entrance), and Ando's sketches, drawings and model are on display. The self-service café looks onto the garden. The bookshop stocks all of Shiba's paperbacks currently on sale, under a cover made for the museum.

The museum is open from 10:00 to 17:00, last entry at 16:30. It is closed on Mondays (when Monday is a public or substitute holiday, the following day), from 1 to 10 September and from 28 December to 4 January. Admission is charged, at reduced rates for junior-high, high-school and elementary-school pupils; it is free on presentation of a disability certificate. Groups of 20 or more pay 20% less and must notify the museum in advance.

Photography is forbidden inside, but the garden and the exterior of the building may be photographed. No eating or drinking in the galleries, and no umbrellas (parasols included): stands are provided at the entrance. The interior is step-free, with wheelchairs, a lift and free lockers.

Address: 3-11-18 Shimokosaka, Higashiōsaka (東大阪市下小阪3丁目11番18号). From Yaenosato station (八戸ノ里駅) on the Kintetsu Nara line it is about 8 minutes on foot. The museum's car park has 5 free spaces; coaches of 7 metres or more cannot come near and use a free car park about 5 minutes away on foot, to be booked by the day before.