Matsue History Museum

The Matsue History Museum is a municipal history museum built adjacent to Matsue Castle (National Treasure) in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, and as a facility housing and displaying materials related to the samurai culture and swords of the Matsue Domain (the Matsudaira clan, the Izumo-Matsudaira), it is the most important facility for understanding the sword culture of the Sanin region.

Matsue Castle is one of five castles among Japan's remaining original keeps designated as National Treasures (Matsumoto, Hikone, Inuyama, Himeji, and Matsue), and the black-lacquered keep built by Horio Yoshiharu in Keichō 16 (1611) is also called the 'Chidori Castle.' The keep was later entered by the Matsudaira clan (Izumo-Matsudaira), who ruled as domain lords until the late Edo period. The Matsue History Museum's central collection consists of swords, armor, and weapons collected by successive generations of the Matsudaira clan.

Izumo Province (present-day eastern Shimane Prefecture) has been renowned since ancient times as a center of iron production. In particular, the production of Japanese steel (tamahagane) through tatara smelting has continuously supported Japanese sword culture as a materials industry from the medieval period to modern times. Izumo tatara smelting continues to be preserved today as the world's sole traditional iron-smelting method (Okuizumo tatara smelting), and its history and the material origins of Japanese swords are referenced in the Matsue History Museum's exhibitions. Matsue is the central city in Izumo's cultural sphere, which might be called 'the homeland of Japanese sword materials,' and is a place every sword enthusiast should visit at least once.

Additionally, materials from the period when Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo) spent in Matsue (Meiji 23–24) are also on display at this museum. Hearn's records, reflecting his deep interest in Japanese samurai culture including sword culture, add to Matsue's cultural identity. It functions as a core facility in the 'Matsue One-Day Sightseeing Course,' which combines the Matsue Castle keep, the Koizumi Yakumo Memorial Hall, and Horikawa pleasure boat cruises.