Japan-Lithuania Relations
Prime Minister KISHIDA visits the Sugihara House
Prime Minister Kishida visiting the Sugihara House
(Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
Prime Minister Kishida visiting the Sugihara House
(Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
On July 12 (local time), Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, who was visiting Lithuania to attend the NATO Summit, visited the Sugihara House in Kaunas, Lithuania with his spouse, Ms. KISHIDA Yuko. Prime Minister Kishida paid a visit to the museum and signed the guest book.
Sugihara House is a museum established in the former Japanese Consulate in Kaunas, where late vice-consul Mr. Sugihara Chiune, who issued ‘Visas for Life’ to Jewish refugees, worked between July 1939 and August 1940. The museum is run by the Sugihara Foundation – Diplomats for Life, established in Lithuania, and has been open to public since 2000.
Sugihara House exhibits the list of visas issued by Mr. Sugihara, documents, photos and passports left by those who received the visas by Mr. Sugihara, a replica of the desk of the former Japanese Consulate used by Mr. Sugihara and panels describing his life.