Museum · Mitaka

Dazai Osamu Literary Salon 太宰治文学サロン

A small, free salon run by Mitaka City on the site of the liquor shop where Dazai Osamu used to buy his sake. It holds first editions, manuscripts and walking maps of the Mitaka streets where the author of No Longer Human lived, wrote and died.

About

Dazai Osamu, one of Japan's most read modern novelists, lived in Mitaka from 1939 until his death in 1948. He drowned himself with a lover in the Tamagawa Josui canal nearby. The Literary Salon opened in 2008 on the site of the Isemoto liquor shop, where Dazai bought drink on credit. It is a single bright room with rotating displays of his first editions, letters, photos and reproductions of manuscripts, and a corner of books to read. Volunteer guides lead monthly walking tours past the places where he lived and the canal where he died. Dazai fans from all over Japan come here, but very few foreign visitors.

Highlights

• First editions and reproductions of Dazai's manuscripts and letters
• On the site of the liquor shop where Dazai bought sake on credit
• Free literary walking maps of Dazai's Mitaka
• Volunteer-guided walks to the sites of his life (on set days)
• A short walk from the Tamagawa Josui canal path

Tips

• It is closed on Mondays (and the day after a holiday Monday).
• Ask staff for the Dazai walking map. It links the salon, his former home sites and his grave at Zenrinji.
• Combine with the Yamamoto Yuzo museum and the Kaze no Sanpomichi canal walk towards Inokashira Park and the Ghibli Museum.

Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09

Nearby

• Ganso Stamina Manten Ramen SuzukiRamen & Noodles · 130 m away
• Mitaka Tourist Information CenterTourist Info · 220 m away
• Coin Lockers · Mitaka StationLuggage Storage · 320 m away
• Ramen SukoyakaRamen & Noodles · 440 m away
• Kaze no Sanpomichi & Yamamoto Yuzo Memorial MuseumLocal Secret · 490 m away
• Ghibli Museum, MitakaMuseum · 850 m away
• Inokashira Park ZooZoo & Aquarium · 970 m away
• Inokashira ParkPark · 990 m away