September 18th Historical Museum

September 18th Historical Museum, or 9.18 Historical Museum is located in Shenyang, Liaoning. The museum was built to commemorate the “September 18th Incident”. The museum was opened on sep. 18th, 1999, covering an area of 35 thousand sq m (42 thousand sq yd) and including 7 exhibition halls, more than 800 pictures, more than 300 material objects, more than 100 documents and 19 scenes reproducing the war. It is the only museum in the world that reflects the “September 18th Incident” in all aspects.
 

September 18th Incident (Mukden Incident)

The “September 18th Incident” is an aggression against China launched by Japan. On the night of sep. 18th, 1931, the Japanese army in northeast China blew up a set of train tracks near Liutiao Lake in Mukden (today’s Shenyang), and they framed it against the Chinese army. On the pretext of that, Japanese launched the war and occupied three provinces in the northeast of China successively. This incident was the symbol of the start of the Global War against Fascism as well as the start of World War Two in the east.
September 18th Museum
September 18th Historical Museum
9.18 Incident Memorial Stele
9.18 Incident Memorial Stele

9.18 Incident Memorial Stele

This is the landmark of September 18th Historical Museum standing in its front. The stele looks like an opened calendar, which is made by granite. The stele is 18 m (60 ft) high, 30 m (33 yd) wide and 11 m (12 yd) long. The time and a brief introduction to the “September 18th Incident” are carved on the stele. The stele is filled with bullet holes, which symbolize the cruelty of the war.
 

Main Exhibits in September 18th Historical Museum

 Type 94 Mountain Guns: After Japan’s defeat in 1945, the weapons and armaments were captured by Chinese army, including these Type 94 Mountain Guns.

 Stone tablets: The steles were built by Japanese troops to commemorate dead Japanese soldiers.

 Rolling cage: This instrument of torture was used by Japanese troops to punish anti-Japanese people. It is a cylinder with a width of 200 cm (79 in) and a height of 66 cm (26 in). The cage is filled with sharp thorns on the inner wall. And there is an iron cover on the flank which can be opened.

 Masaji Kitano’s office table, chair and bookshelf: Masaji Kitano (1894-1986) was a Japanese army soldier. He was also a Doctor of Medicine, who was one of the germ war criminals. This set of office equipments were used when he was in Manchuria Medical College.

 Weapons used by Sino-Japanese Volunteer Army: Most of them were captured from Japanese soldiers and the others are broadswords, spears and behindhand firearms.

 The Manchuria memorial armored vehicle model: This copper armored vehicle model was awarded by Shigeru Honj (1876-1945). In the “September 18th Event”, as the commander of Japan’s Kwantung Army, he gave the order to invade the three northeast provinces of China. As a class-A war criminal, he suicided after Japan’s defeat.

 Hamster specimen: This specimen was used by Masaji Kitano for experiments. Masaji Kitano and his assistants used the hamsters’ bodies to breed pathogens and used living Chinese people to prove the virulence of the pathogens. And then they killed the hamsters to make vaccine for the Japanese soldiers.

 Crutch knife: This knife is about 90 cm (35 in) long. It looks like a wooden crutch, but the forepart can be pulled out and a knife is hidden in it. In the initial stage of Sino-Japanese War, partisan troops and local people use this kind of weapon to resist Japanese army.

 The portrayal of the “September 18th Incident”: This document was published in 1931, donated to September 18th Historical Museum by a citizen in Shenyang in 2010. This book collected 60 clear photos of the war with notes on every photo.

 The original photos of the invasion of Japanese: The 7 original photos were donated by a collector in Shenyang. These precious photos record the history of war.
Picture Showing Japanese Army's Cruelty
Photo Showing
Japanese Army's Cruelty
Skeletons of Chinese People Killed by Japanese Army
Skeletons of Chinese People
Killed by Japanese Army

How to get to September 18th Historical Museum

Take bus163 /212 /253 /298 /299 /325 /328 /399, get off at September 18th Historical Museum.
 
Ticket Price Free but visitors need to get the ticket with a valid ID certificate such as a passport
Opening time Closed on every Monday
April 15th to Oct. 15th: 9:00-17:00, stop entering at 16:30
Oct. 16 to April 14th: 9:00-16:30, stop entering at 16:00

Read more: Top 10 Things to Do in Shenyang

- Last updated on Apr. 27, 2020 -
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