Matsura Historical Museum
- Established: 1955
- Japanese: 松浦史料博物館 (Matsura shiryou hakubutsukan)
The Matsura Historical Museum is a museum in Hirado which holds roughly 30,000 items from the personal collections of the Matsura clan, former daimyô of Hirado han. These include a wide range of typical elite possessions of a former daimyô family, such as suits of armor, palanquins, extensive lacquerware banquet sets, porcelains and ceramics, and gifts received from the Imperial family or other elite families, as well as numerous paintings, maps, and documents. Some of the more notable items are copies of the Kasshi yawa (the diary of Hirado lord Matsura Seizan, portraits of the successive lords, and a number of hanging scrolls and folding screens by elite artists such as Kanô Tan'yû. The collection also includes numerous other items of significance, such as a Buddhist sculpture once owned by Kenreimon-in, a personal seal and other items associated with Zheng Zhenggong, a portrait of Ryukyuan ambassador Prince Tomigusuku Chôshun, and paintings of Chinese and Dutch trading activities at Nagasaki.
The museum is based in the Tsurugamine Villa, which was built in 1893 as a private Matsura family mansion, and donated by Matsura Susumu in 1955 to house the museum. The structure has been designated a Prefectural Cultural Property (ken-shitei yûkei bunkazai). The grounds also include Kan'un-tei, a teahouse built in 1893. The Chinshin-ryû school of tea ceremony established by Matsura Shigenobu is practiced there.
References
- Pamphlets available on-site.
