The places connected with Oguri Kōzukenosuke fall broadly into three: Gunma (his last days and his grave), Yokosuka (the traces of his work) and Tokyo and around it (where he was born and grew up, and the graves of his forebears). There is a fuller article for each place, and the headings below lead to them. Opening hours, admission and closing days change, so please check each place's official pages before visiting.
Kurabuchi, Takasaki, Gunma — the last sixty-four days
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Tōzenji 169 Gonda, Kurabuchi, Takasaki. The Sōtō Zen temple where Oguri lived in the village of Gonda, and now the temple that holds his grave. The grave and a hall of his effects are in the grounds. For anyone coming to Oguri, this is the first place.
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The memorial stone at the riverbed at Mizunuma The stone at the place of the execution. Its text reads “A great man, Oguri Kōzukenosuke, cut down in this place without crime”. Unveiled on the fifth of May 1932. It is a historic site designated by the city of Takasaki, “the place where Oguri Kōzukenosuke Tadamasa died”.
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The site of the house on Kannonyama, and the Odaka water channel The site of the house Oguri was building for his new life. The foundation stones remain, and the channel laid out by French survey is in use today. The arrest circular arrived about ten days after the ridgepole was raised. A historic site designated by the city of Takasaki, “the site of the Oguri residence on Kannonyama”.
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The Sisters Kannon Below the rock face at Tōrazu-no-fuchi, on the upper Aimagawa. An image in memory of the two small daughters of the steward Tsukamoto Masahiko, who were drowned in the river during the escape from Gonda. Near 19-1 Iwakōri, Kurabuchi, Takasaki.
→ more in the article on Kannonyama -
The grave of Oguri Matakichi In Takasaki. The grave of his adopted heir Tadamichi, called Matakichi, who went to the headquarters to answer for his father, was seized, and was beheaded inside Takasaki castle on the seventh day of the intercalary fourth month. He was twenty-one by Japanese count.
→ The end of Matakichi -
Michi-no-eki Kurabuchi Oguri no Sato In Kurabuchi. A roadside station that keeps Oguri's name in its own. A place to stop on a visit to Kurabuchi.
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The Haruna Museum of History and Folklore, Takasaki The museum of history and folklore for the Haruna district. It holds local material, including objects connected with the Oguri house.
City of Takasaki, official: The Haruna Museum of History and Folklore ／ About the permanent exhibition
The Oguri Festival (the service at the grave)
The Oguri Kōzukenosuke memorial society holds the Oguri Festival each year at Tōzenji and in Kurabuchi. Besides the service at the grave there is a commemorative ceremony and a lecture. The date changes from year to year, and in some years places have to be booked, so please check the notices from the Kurabuchi branch office of the city of Takasaki.
City of Takasaki, Kurabuchi branch office: “On the holding of the Oguri Festival”
On the planned opening of a memorial museum
Ahead of the 2027 taiga drama, it is reported that the city of Takasaki is preparing a memorial museum for Oguri Kōzukenosuke. No official city page giving its formal name and location has appeared yet.
Yokosuka, Kanagawa — the traces of his work
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Verny Park, the Verny Memorial Museum, and the dock In the park facing Yokosuka harbour the busts of Oguri Kōzukenosuke and Verny stand side by side. The museum holds a steam hammer used at the Yokosuka ironworks, an Important Cultural Property, and the first dock, inside the American naval base, is still in service. The Verny and Oguri Festival each November is held here too.
City of Yokosuka, official: The pride of Yokosuka! The Yokosuka ironworks (shipyard)
Tokyo and around it — where he was born and grew up, and the graves of his forebears
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Kanda Surugadai, and Tsukiji Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda ward. The site of the residence the Oguri lived in for generations; Asaka Gonsai's school, which Tadamasa attended at nine, was first opened in the row house of this residence. At Tsukiji are the site of the naval training station, where the voyage around the world began, and the site of the Tsukiji Hotel.
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The “grave of the generations of the house of Oguri” at Zōshigaya cemetery Minami-Ikebukuro, Toshima ward. The grave raised in September 1912 by Oguri Sadao, the husband of his daughter Kuniko. On the back are cut the dates of death of Tadamasa, Michiko, Sadao and Kuniko.
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Hozenji Kami-Takada, Nakano ward. A Sōtō Zen temple formerly at Ushigome, the temple of the Oguri house in Edo. The heads of the house from the fifth, Masanobu, lie here.
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Fumon'in Ōnarichō, Ōmiya ward, Saitama. Here is the grave of Tadamasa (忠政), the founder of the house of Oguri, with the stone lantern Oguri presented and the 1934 stone for the summoning of his spirit. A post stands here too, said to mark where his head was buried.
To Aizu — the road of the escape
Before the execution, his mother Kuniko, his wife Michiko and his adopted daughter Masako set out for Aizu, escorted by more than twenty villagers of Gonda. The road ran from the village of Gonda by way of Naganohara; Wakōbara, in the Kuni district of Nakanojō, Agatsuma; the Jizō pass; Akiyama-gō on the border of Nagano and Niigata; Tōkamachi, Nagaoka, Niigata and Tsugawa, and so to Aizu. For Michiko, who was pregnant, it was a hard road. They reached Aizu at the end of the intercalary fourth month, and there a daughter, Kuniko, was born.
When the villagers who had escorted them came back to the village of Gonda, having seen the party as far as Shizuoka, they looked like beggars, so it is told.
→ The escape to Aizu The villagers who escorted them Nakajima Sanzaemon
Sources: material published by the cities of Takasaki, Yokosuka and Saitama and by Nakano and Chiyoda wards, and the works listed under books and sources. Information about these places changes. Please check the official pages before visiting. Notice of errors and changes is welcome.