Sanada Treasure Museum

The Sanada Treasure Museum is a museum located in Matsushiro-machi, Matsushiro, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture, and is known throughout Japan among Sengoku-period historians and Sanada clan researchers as a facility that houses and displays warrior equipment, crafts, and ancient documents transmitted to the Sanada family (Matsushiro Domain). Matsushiro Domain was a domain with Sanada Nobuyuki (elder brother of Sanada Yukimura) as its first lord, and the Sanada clan thereafter ruled it generation after generation until the Meiji Restoration. The museum contains swords, armor, spears, bows and arrows, and horse equipment associated with the Sanada family, as well as arms and armor related to Sanada Yukimura (Sanada Shigenobu) and Sanada Masayuki. As a facility where visitors can experience actual weapons and armor connected to historical scenes such as "Ten Braves of Sanada" and "Siege of Osaka," it is highly valued among sword and armor enthusiasts.

In the sword collection, what particularly stands out are the tachi and katana transmitted to successive lords of the Sanada clan. Multiple swords designated as Nagano Prefectural Cultural Properties are included, with outstanding works by swordsmiths from the Muromachi through Edo periods. Due to its origins, the Sanada clan had deep ties to the Takeda clan of Kai Province, and it is said that some swords and armor believed to be of Takeda transmission are held in the collection. In the field of armor, materials related to the red armor (akabe) believed to have been used by Sanada Yukimura at the Siege of Osaka are displayed, making this facility of special significance to fans of Sanada Yukimura, one of Japan's most famous warriors.

The history of the Sanada clan and Matsushiro is widely known through NHK Taiga dramas and historical novels such as "Sanada-maru" and "Sanada Taihei-ki." Thanks to its favorable location adjacent to the historic site of Matsushiro Castle ruins (formerly Kaizu Castle), Matsushiro district in Nagano City has become a popular destination for Sengoku-period history enthusiasts, serving as a hub for historical tourism. Access is also convenient at approximately 30 minutes by bus from Nagano Station on the Nagano Shinkansen (Hokuriku Shinkansen).