Oct–NovThe port where Polish orphans landed in the 1920s and Jewish refugees carrying Chiune Sugihara's visas arrived in 1940–41. The museum sits in a reconstruction of the port-era buildings, with the 1905 Red Brick Warehouse a few minutes' walk away.
The Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum (人道の港 敦賀ムゼウム) tells how Polish orphans in the 1920s and Jewish refugees with Sugihara visas in 1940–41 landed at Tsuruga. Entry is ¥500 for adults and ¥300 for ages 4–12; it opens 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30) and closes on Wednesdays. It is 10 minutes by bus from Tsuruga Station to the Kanegasaki Ryokuchi stop, then a 3 minute walk. Allow about an hour, 1–2 hours with the Red Brick Warehouse.
From the Meiji period to the early Shōwa period Tsuruga was Japan's link to Vladivostok and the Trans-Siberian Railway. That is why two groups of people arrived here. In the 1920s, Polish children who had lost their families in Siberia after the Russian Revolution were landed at Tsuruga; the first came in 1920. In 1940–41, Jewish refugees from Europe crossed Siberia to Vladivostok and sailed to Tsuruga on the Amakusa Maru, holding the transit visas that Chiune Sugihara, then acting consul in Kaunas, Lithuania, had issued. He is credited with saving over 6,000 lives.
The museum reopened in 2020, the 100th anniversary of the orphans' landing and the 80th of the visas. Its building copies four Western-style structures that stood at the port, including the old Tsuruga Port station and the customs baggage inspection office, rebuilt on their original sites.
For someone changing trains with two to four hours, the museum and the warehouse next door make the best use of the gap: see changing trains at Tsuruga and the Tsuruga town guide.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Museum admission | ¥500 adults, ¥300 ages 4–12, free under 4. Free for holders of a disability certificate plus one carer. Groups of 20 or more book ahead. Card payment accepted. A free zone shows an overview and the port's history. |
| Museum hours | 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30. Closed Wednesdays (the next day if Wednesday is a holiday) and over New Year. No photography inside. |
| Red Brick Warehouse | Built 1905. Diorama hall ¥400 adults, ¥200 elementary school, 9:30–17:30 (last entry 17:00), closed on the same days as the museum. The restaurant hall keeps its own hours, with restaurants listed to 22:00. |
| Free extras | Tsuruga Railway Museum (the rebuilt Tsuruga Port station), free, 9:00–17:00. Kanegasaki-gū shrine, always open, 180 m from the museum. |
| Getting there | Gurutto Tsuruga sightseeing bus from stop 3, about 10 min, to Kanegasaki Ryokuchi (Tsuruga Muzeum); or the community bus Matsubara line (stop 4), about 8 min. ¥200. Taxi about 10 min. |
| Time needed | About an hour in the museum; 1–2 hours with the Red Brick Warehouse. |
| Address | 23-1 Kanegasaki-chō, Tsuruga. Phone 0770-37-1035. Coin lockers and step-free toilets on site; 128 free car spaces at Kanegasaki Ryokuchi. |
Three places within a 300 m walk of each other, all in the Kanegasaki waterfront park.
The permanent exhibition has three themes: Tsuruga as the gateway to the continent, the Polish orphans and the Jewish refugees. A theatre shows why each group came, and the displays include historical documents, a ceramic tile relief, replica visas and a refugee's watch. Temporary exhibitions change through the year.
A pair of stone panels stands outside the museum, one inscribed in Japanese and the other in Hebrew and Polish. It is the monument to the refugees who came ashore here and is free to see at any hour, so it is worth a minute even if the museum is closed.
Built in 1905 to store oil, the two brick buildings and the brick wall were registered as national tangible cultural properties in 2009. Since October 2015 one hall holds restaurants, a cafe and shops, and the other the diorama hall. The restaurants are the easiest lunch near the port.
A large model of Tsuruga with trains, buses and ships that move, and a film on the town's history. A retired KiHa 28 railcar stands in the same building. It suits children and anyone who wants the layout of the old port and the railway to the pier explained at once.
Walking takes about 30 minutes, so most people ride.
Take the Sightseeing Route from bus stop 3 and get off at Kanegasaki Ryokuchi (Tsuruga Muzeum), then walk 3 minutes. About 11 departures from 10:00 to 16:40; the last bus is back at the station at 16:58. A one-day pass is ¥500 and Suica or ICOCA work on single rides.
From stop 4, also to Kanegasaki Ryokuchi. Handy when the sightseeing bus has just left. Check the timetable on the city bus page.
A good walker takes about 30 minutes. Tsuruga Share Cycle bikes can be rented and returned at the park. By car it is about 10 minutes from Tsuruga IC, with 128 free spaces at Kanegasaki Ryokuchi.
Wednesday and the late-afternoon cut-off are what catch people out.
An early start gets the museum and warehouse before the afternoon bus rush.
Opened in 2022 beside the Shinkansen terminus, so you can leave bags, see the port in the morning and still make a midday train. Rooms from ¥13,400 for two.
143 rooms a minute from the west exit, with public baths. A simple base before the first sightseeing bus at 10:00. Guests with tattoos are not admitted to the bath.
166 rooms, rated 8.3 on Agoda from about 580 reviews, close to the bus stops for the port.
Check rates ↗¥500 for adults and ¥300 for ages 4–12; under 4 is free. It opens 9:00–17:00 with last entry at 16:30, and closes on Wednesdays (the next day if Wednesday is a holiday) and over New Year.
Take the Gurutto Tsuruga sightseeing bus from stop 3 to Kanegasaki Ryokuchi (Tsuruga Muzeum), about 10 minutes, then walk 3 minutes. The community bus (Matsubara line) takes about 8 minutes, a taxi 10, and walking about 30.
Tsuruga received Polish orphans from Siberia in the 1920s, the first in 1920, and in 1940–41 Jewish refugees who held transit visas issued by Chiune Sugihara in Kaunas. They crossed Siberia to Vladivostok and sailed to Tsuruga.
Two brick buildings from 1905. One holds restaurants, a cafe and shops; the other a diorama hall of Tsuruga's railway and port (¥400 for adults, 9:30–17:30, closed Wednesdays) with a retired railcar.
Yes, with about three hours: 10 minutes by bus each way, an hour in the museum and time for the warehouse. Do not plan it on a Wednesday, and take a bus no later than about 14:30 so you reach the 16:30 last entry in comfort.
Booking links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. How we choose