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Tottori · museum

Mizuki Shigeru Memorial Museum

水木しげる記念館

A Sakaiminato museum tracing the life and work of GeGeGe no Kitaro creator Mizuki Shigeru. Rebuilt in 2024, it covers everything from his war to his yokai.

Mizuki Shigeru, master of yokai manga

Mizuki Shigeru (1922 to 2015) was a manga artist who grew up in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture. During the Second World War he was sent to Rabaul (in today's Papua New Guinea), scene of fierce fighting, where he lost his left arm in a bombing raid. After the war he drew for kamishibai (street storytelling told with picture cards) and for kashihon (books you paid to borrow and read) before creating GeGeGe no Kitaro, Kappa no Sanpei and other works.

He is one of the people who made Japan's yokai (mysterious creatures and ghosts from folklore) known to everyone as they are today. His work is also recognised abroad: in 2007, for example, NonNonBa to Ore (NonNonBa) won the best album award at the Angouleme International Comics Festival in France.

A museum reborn in 2024

The museum opened in 2003, was rebuilt from March 2023, and reopened on 20 April 2024. The new building is about one and a half times the size of the old one.

The permanent exhibition follows his life chapter by chapter: his boyhood in Sakaiminato, his war experience, and his path through kamishibai and kashihon to success as a manga artist. The renewal put special weight on the war chapter, where sketches he drew at the front, books he loved and manga based on his experiences let you touch the experiences at the root of his work.

There is also a display of yokai lined up in a dark, cave-like room and a corner introducing Mizuki Shigeru's words. The special exhibition room shows precious original drawings that could not be displayed in the old building, with the theme changing about every six months.

At the end of Mizuki Shigeru Road

The museum stands at the end of Mizuki Shigeru Road, the street of bronze yokai statues that starts at Sakaiminato Station on the JR Sakai Line. It is about 10 minutes' walk from the station. From Yonago Airport (Yonago Kitaro Airport) it is about 20 minutes by bus.

The museum is open every day of the year, but the special exhibition room may close while exhibitions are being changed. Check the official website for opening hours and admission fees.

Tips

  • Learn about Mizuki Shigeru's life at the museum first, then walk Mizuki Shigeru Road, and the yokai along the street will feel much closer to you.
  • The museum has a Yokai Post, where you can send letters stamped with a special yokai postmark. Why not send a note from your travels?
  • Special exhibitions change regularly. If there is an original drawing you particularly want to see, check the current exhibition and changeover dates on the official website before you go.

Sources

Updated 28 September 2026. Opening hours and prices change, so check the official site before you go.

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