Kasai City regional revitalization base facility “sora Kasai” Uzurano Museum

The remains of a 1.2 km long runway in Uzurano-cho, Kasai City, are from an airfield built during wartime, and many other war ruins are dotted around the area and remain to this day.
Kasai City's regional revitalization center, "Sora Kasai," serves as a communication hub for touring these ruins, and the "Uzurano Museum" within it was created as the center of a field museum that conveys the historical facts of the war.

The basic plan for the facility was awarded to a joint venture of three companies, with Ohba Co., Ltd. joining for the design, and Iruka Design Group Co., Ltd. joining in. Our company was mainly responsible for the museum displays. Subsequently, we were awarded the contract to produce displays independently, a project that lasted approximately six years from planning to completion. Towards completion, we collaborated with many people, including the Kasai City government, local war history researchers who had conducted extensive research over many years, preservation societies, supervising professors, and a company that produced full-scale airplane models, after going through a review committee.

This museum, built on the runway, centers around displays two full-scale airplane models deeply connected to this area, while also introducing the short but rich history of Unono Airfield. We aimed to create a museum unique to Unono, one that makes the most of the story and unique location of this place. The mission of this museum is to weave together the memories of this place, preserve them in tangible form, and pass them on to future generations. We hope it will become a place to reflect on peace and connect people.

The challenge was to create an attractive facility that would serve as a field exchange hub befitting the "Kasai City Regional Revitalization Hub Facility."
The museum's role, particularly as displays space, was to serve as a place for reflection on peace by primarily displays two full-scale airplane models, along with historical displays related to Unono Airfield and Kasai City. While displays method emphasized content and primarily utilized video technology, displays actual artifacts was also desired.

The greatest appeal of this museum lies in its displays space, which is set up on the runway itself—a living witness to history—and the main displays, two full-scale models of airplanes, placed on top of it. The "Shiden-kai," which was assembled and test flown, is positioned on the runway, while the "Type 97 Carrier Attack Aircraft," which took off on suicide missions, is positioned as if taking off from the runway into the sky. The runway, the sky, the architecture, and displays are all integrated into a powerful space, creating a unique displays in Unono that makes the most of the story inherent in this place.
displays is structured into two zones, "Technology" and "History," with a grid wall separating them to create a seamless, interconnected space. The aim is to provide an opportunity for visitors to consider the historical event of war from two different perspectives, encouraging them to think from a multifaceted viewpoint.
The video displays were designed to create a synergistic effect on understanding when combined with the document displays. In particular, the "Story Wall" presents the history of Unono Airfield as four stories, unfolding as a four-part video display that makes full use of the horizontal space. Furthermore, four document displays that link to these stories are displayed, creating a structure where each element complements the others. By learning the background of the documents through the videos and giving the videos realism through the documents, we aim to create displays that conveys information more deeply.
Furthermore, by directly incorporating the words of the people who lived there into the content, we aimed to create an expression that allows viewers to feel the war not just as a past event, but as something tangible.