How an Imperial Military Laboratory Became a Museum for Peace

Historic sites have multifaceted meanings. In the case of war-related sites, they serve as an important historical resource for present and future generations to learn about what happened there during the war. Despite their great value, it is not easy to preserve such sites properly and to make them function as historic sites—this is particularly true in the case of the preservation of sites concerning secret wartime projects. This article shows how a building from an old Japanese army laboratory overcame these difficulties to transform into a university museum: "the defunct Imperial Japanese Army Noborito Laboratory Museum for Education in Peace" on Ikuta Campus, Meiji University. This article treats the prehistory of the museum and considers the collaboration between local communities, historians, and the university in establishing the museum for peace.