"Nara Prison Museum" Fully Revealed, Including a Preservation Area with 96 Connected Solo Cells

Hoshino Resorts has unveiled details of the renovated former Nara Prison, a registered Important Cultural Property, and said the Nara Prison Museum by Hoshino Resorts will open on April 27.

The museum will preserve an area with 96 former solitary cells and feature exhibits on history, architecture, and prison culture, plus a café and shop.

The project is drawing attention as a preservation-and-reuse model that turns a Meiji-era modern prison into a cultural asset for tourism, education, and local revitalization.

The red-brick complex designed by Keijiro Yamashita, with exhibition direction by Taku Satoh and Adrien Gardère, is part of the appeal.