* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History
広島県立歴史博物館
Overview
The Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History in Fukuyama is best known for its comprehensive display of the 'Kusado Sengen' medieval townsite — a bustling riverside trading city from the Kamakura through Muromachi periods, lost to floods in the 17th century and excavated to reveal extraordinary evidence of medieval Japanese daily life. The museum's sword collection focuses on the Bingo (eastern Hiroshima) tradition, particularly the 'Mihara-mono' (Mihara school) swords of master smiths including Masaie and successive Mihara smiths who flourished alongside Bizen. Swords and armor connected to the Mōri and Asano clans — the great daimyo who controlled Hiroshima domain — are also in the collection. Particularly rare are the excavated sword fragments from Kusado Sengen, offering archaeological evidence of medieval sword distribution and use.
Highlights
- Mihara-mono sword tradition — the Bingo Province (eastern Hiroshima) school of swordsmiths, with master Masaie as founder, producing refined Bizen-influenced blades alongside their celebrated neighbors
- Mōri and Asano clan weapons — arms connected to Mōri Motonari, the great unifier of the Chūgoku region, and the Edo-period Hiroshima lords
- Excavated medieval sword fragments from Kusado Sengen — rare archaeological sword evidence from a buried medieval commercial city
- Bizen-adjacent regional sword culture — the distinctive Bingo tradition flourishing beside Japan's greatest sword-producing province
- Kusado Sengen large-scale diorama — spectacular reconstruction of the lost medieval riverside city where swords circulated among merchants and samurai
* Opening hours and exhibitions are subject to change. Please check the official website before visiting.