Lüshun Russo-Japanese Prison 旅顺日俄监狱旧址

About Lüshun Russo-Japanese Prison

Its interpretation includes Chinese and Korean prisoners and opponents of Japanese rule, with An Jung-geun among the people associated with the site. These are historical spaces with a difficult human context rather than a conventional architectural attraction. A conservation closure began on 17 October 2025; a reopening announcement had not been verified when this guide was checked.

The prison was built by the Russian Empire in 1902, with an office building and 85 brick cells, and briefly served as a field hospital during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Japan expanded it from November 1907 to 253 cells, adding wards and workshops, before its dissolution in August 1945. Reportedly close to 20,000 people were held there between 1906 and 1936, and about 700 were executed between 1942 and August 1945.

The compound is enclosed by a red-brick wall 4 metres high and 725 metres long, with 275 cells that could hold more than 2,000 prisoners, plus body-search, interrogation and execution rooms and workshops using prisoner labour. Grey-brick cells at the centre date from the Russian period, with red-brick sections added by Japan in 1907; the grounds, covering 226,000 square metres in total, also held a kiln, forestry plots, orchards and vegetable fields.

It reopened as a public exhibition hall in July 1971 and was designated a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位) in 1988, in the third such listing. In October 2009 an exhibition on the Korean independence activist An Jung-geun (安重根), held there for five months before his execution, opened within the museum.

What to look for

• The preserved cell blocks and workshops, which show imprisonment and forced labour within the same complex.
• The historical interpretation associated with An Jung-geun and other prisoners, when the museum reopens.

The surrounding area

Southern coastal city base with a specific waterfront focus around Xinghai Bay, Xinghai Square and selected Binhai Road walking sections. The Changshan Islands require an additional island travel plan.

Location & getting there

Getting to Lüshun Russo-Japanese Prison

The site is at 139 Xiangyang Street in Lüshunkou District. Confirm an official reopening announcement before travelling specifically to enter; the published conservation closure remains unresolved in this research.