Humanitarian Port Tsuruga Museum Presents JICA Refugee Exhibition 'Today, I Lost My Home'

Poster

An Entire Space Dedicated to Simulating the Refugee Experience!

◆ Overview

Around the world, conflicts, persecution, poverty, and disasters have forced nearly as many people into displacement as Japan’s total population.

As history shows, when Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany arrived at Tsuruga Port holding 'life-saving visas,' the refugee crisis has long been a serious and pressing global issue.

This exhibition goes beyond explaining the basic question of 'What is a refugee?' by placing each visitor in the role of a refugee.

What if, one day, you suddenly became a refugee?

Under this premise, visitors will face intense, real-life situations requiring urgent choices and decisions, simulating the desperate conditions refugees endure.

Family, friends, language, culture…

Imagine if everything you took for granted yesterday was suddenly taken away. How would you feel? What path would you choose to survive?

Another version of your life begins now.

Today, you become a refugee.

Entrance to the Exhibition Room

Try carrying your belongings

Inside the Exhibition Room

A fork in the route

Inside the Exhibition Room

Try boarding a refugee boat

Inside the Exhibition Room

[Period]

June 20 (Sat), Reiwa 8 – December 20 (Sun), 2026

[Location]

2nd Floor, Humanitarian Port Tsuruga Museum

23-1 Kanegasakicho, Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture

[Opening Hours & Closed Days]

9:00–17:00 (Last admission at 16:30)

Closed on Wednesdays (Open on holidays, closed the following day)

For detailed opening information, please visit the museum’s official website:

https://tsuruga-museum.jp

[Admission Fee]

Adults: ¥500, Children (elementary school and under): ¥300 (20% discount for groups of 20 or more)

Free admission for persons with disabilities and one accompanying caregiver, and children under 4 years old

※ Admission includes access to both the permanent and special exhibitions

[Organizers, Co-organizers & Supporters]

Organizer: Humanitarian Port Tsuruga Museum

Co-organizer: JICA Hokuriku

Supporters: UNHCR Japan Office, General Incorporated Association Social Education Support

About the Humanitarian Port Tsuruga Museum

Tsuruga Port served as a key transportation hub between Japan and Europe from the Meiji to early Showa periods. It is the only port in Japan where Polish orphans arrived in the 1920s and Jewish refugees with 'life-saving visas' landed in the 1940s.

The 'Humanitarian Port Tsuruga Museum,' a reconstructed historical building, features a theater and combines exhibits, animations, and videos to clearly present the port’s history, the stories of arriving orphans and refugees, the citizens who helped them, and personal testimonies. The museum conveys the preciousness of life and the value of peace.