Welcome to the website of the Chiune Sugihara Sempo Museum. The museum celebrates the memory and legacy of my grandfather, whose selfless actions as a diplomat in wartime Europe nearly eight decades ago saved the lives of thousands of Jewish refugees from slaughter by the Nazis.

It is only in recent years that Chiune's deeds have become more widely known in Japan. He is now being taught in junior high school curriculums, and material distributed by the Japanese government at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2018 featured two full pages dedicated to the remarkable rescue in Lithuania. NPO Chiune Sugihara Visas for Life, which I am honored to serve as chairman, has actively participated in lectures, Holocaust memorials, photographic exhibits and other events at home and abroad.

The family has long maintained a private trove of photos, documents and other items related to Chiune's eventful life. In particular, Chiune's memoirs, written in his later years at the urging of his wife, my grandmother Yukiko, offer a vivid recounting of the intense psychological pressure he faced in reaching his bold decision in Kaunas. I remember as a teenager helping to transcribe the memoirs from his handwritten notes. Even as I struggled with the prose, which featured old-style phrasing and many Chinese characters no longer in use, I remember being overwhelmed by the momentous story. It was the first time that my grandfather had ever mentioned the incident, nor did he talk much about it afterwards. It was clear to me, though, that these were invaluable records, and the family has carefully and quietly preserved them in the decades since along with the other items bequeathed to us.

With the growing interest in Chiune, we felt that the time was right to offer these precious items to the public. Even in an age when information is instantly available online, the real objects from the time have a visceral impact that cannot be duplicated virtually. The museum offers many unpublished photos, an actual life-saving passport with the Sugihara stamp, Chiune's many awards (including the Righteous of the Nations medal from Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Center), the precious handwritten memoirs and a documentary created specifically for this space. In addition, we have created panels explaining the circumstances behind the visas with a focus on the Holocaust, backed by photographs, newspaper clippings and more. The story is told in detail, including Sugihara's background, the critical role of Dutch Honorary Consul Jan Zwartendijk, and the fate of the refugees and Chiune himself after the war.

This is in fact the first Holocaust museum of any kind in Tokyo, and one of our goals beyond the Sugihara story itself is to bring a greater understanding of this period to the Japanese public, where the wartime situation in Europe is not always fully understood. It is our great hope that this museum will be not only a commemoration but an inspiration to all, in my grandfather's words, that "humanity and compassion come first".

We look forward to welcoming you at the museum.

March 19, 2019

Chihiro Sugihara, Chairman
NPO Chiune Sugihara Visas for Life

Noboru Kawasaki
Producer, Sempo