This Memorial Museum was established in 1975 in remembrance of Kunio Yanagita. Kunio Yanagita was a recipient of “The Order of Culture Award” and was offered the first Honorary Citizenship of Fukusaki-cho. He is a member of the Matsuoka family, which was active in areas such as medicine, classical literature, linguistics and arts. He had authored A History of Hunting Terms, The Legends of Tono, and many other books. The culmination of all of his literary works granted him the title “The Father of Japanese Native Folkloristics.”

The birthplace of Kunio Yanagita, which was referred to by Yanagita as “the smallest house in Japan,” is considered to be the source of Yanagita’s aspirations towards Japanese native folkloristics. It has been moved for preservation purposes to the western side of the Memorial Museum.