Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture

Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture opened in November 2005 (Heisei 17). It was established jointly by Nagasaki Prefecture and Nagasaki City. The museum was built on the site of the Tateyama Office of the Nagasaki Magistrate and reconstructs part of it. Its main theme is the history of overseas exchange in early-modern Nagasaki, and it holds many historical materials, art and craft objects, and old documents on this subject. It presents from multiple angles the history of Nagasaki, which functioned during the Edo period as the window for the shogunate's directly controlled foreign trade, and the distinctive culture that developed there.

Nagasaki Magistrate-Related Materials

The museum also holds a rich collection of administrative documents, diplomatic records, and pictorial maps of the Nagasaki Magistrate's Office. Visitors can learn about the Edo shogunate's foreign policy and the realities of Nagasaki trade from primary sources. The collection also includes materials on the Dutch trading post and the Chinese residential compound, maps of Dejima, and records of the Dutch interpreters. These allow a three-dimensional understanding of Nagasaki as a place where Japan connected with the world before modernization.

Special Exhibitions and Permanent Exhibition

The permanent exhibitions, in the History and Culture Exhibition Zone and the Nagasaki Magistrate's Office Zone, introduce the history and culture of overseas exchange in early-modern Nagasaki. The museum also holds special exhibitions on a variety of themes.