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Shōwa Era Lifestyle Museum Recreates House from In This Corner of the World
posted on by Kim Morrissy
The Shōwa Era Lifestyle Museum in Tokyo is holding a special In This Corner of the World exhibit from November 2, 2018 to May 6, 2019. The museum replicates the living conditions of the houses shown in the film, which is set in Hiroshima during World War II.
The Shōwa Era Lifestyle Museum is the former residence of the Koizumi family, and was built in 1951. It was converted into a museum in 1996. Although the house reflects the lifestyle of a middle-class 1950s family in Tokyo, the museum has rotating exhibits often focusing on specific films and periods.
Two rooms in the museum highlight In This Corner of the World. A living room space has cutouts of the characters, along with a replica of the clothing Suzu was shown cutting up incorrectly in the film. An office upstairs shows a mini-exhibit of artwork, storyboards, and a model of the house.
Unlike many museum, the Shōwa Era Lifestyle Museum is interactive. Although visitors are probihited from touching the In This Corner of the World items, they are encouraged to touch the objects within the house to get a sense of how they were used. The volunteer staff are also available to personally explain to visitors what life was like in the Shōwa Era.
Over the duration of the exhibit, the staff have been holding workshops related to In This Corner of the World, where they teach visitors how to make the monpe outfits shown in the film, the food Suzu is shown preparing, and other things.
The animated film directed by Sunao Katabuchi is inspired by Fumiyo Kouno's In This Corner of the World. Shout! Factory and Funimation Films screened the film in the United States and Canada last August. Funimation describes the film:
The award-winning story of IN THIS CORNER OF THE WORLD follows a young lady named Suzu Urano, who in 1944 moves to the small town of Kure in Hiroshima to live with her husband's family. Suzu's life is thrown into chaos when her town is bombed during World War II. Her perseverance and courage underpin this heart-warming and inspirational tale of the everyday challenges faced by the Japanese in the midst of a violent, war-torn country. This beautiful yet poignant tale shows that even in the face of adversity and loss, people can come together and rebuild their lives.
The film will get an extended version, called In This Corner (and Other Corners) of the World [Kono Sekai no (Sara ni Ikutsumono) Katasumi ni], in 2019. The new version was originally slated to screen in Japan in December.
Source: Shōwa Era Lifestyle Museum
