企画展示

1) From Sakura Castle to Sakura Regiments

This first part shows the transformation of Sakura Castle in 1874 to army barracks for the Sakura Regiments. The location of the Museum in Sakura Castle Park in Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture, is the former site of the barracks of the Sakura Regiments. The transformation of Sakura Castle to barracks is presented from the perspectives of archaeology and architectural history using panoramic models of the barracks reproduced from remains and relics uncovered in an archaeological survey of the site undertaken before the construction of the Museum.

2) Sakura Regiments and daily life in the barracks

In the second part, we show life inside the barracks. We see a sample of daily life in the barracks from models of the army barracks as they were in the late 1920s and 1930s, and a vast number of photographs of Sakura. We examine the transformation of ordinary young men conscripted into the Japanese army to soldiers while undergoing military training.

3) Sakura Regiments and the local area

In this part, we look at the links between the barracks and the surrounding area. The 57th Infantry Regiment was a typical "local regiment" that conscripted soldiers from throughout Chiba Prefecture. Due to the high demand for goods generated by the several thousand men stationed at the barracks, there were more than a few merchant families who traded with the regiments. The various relationships that existed between the regiments and the local populace and war are presented, including the findings of interviews. These relationships include the way in which the soldiers were sent off to the front, ways of keeping in contact with their families and the area, the way in which the war dead were mourned, and events that were held jointly by the regiments and the local area.

4) Sakura Regiments and war

Lastly, we look at the extent to which the regiments participated on the battlefield. One of the oldest infantry regiments in Japan, the Sakura Regiment fought in the Seinan War, Sino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese War and the Second World War. The regiment was decimated on Leyte Island in the Philippines during the Second World War. These encounters with war by the regiments are illuminated using a variety of materials founded on solid evidence, including items, documents, photographs and various statistics.