福岡市博物館

Fukuoka City Museum, opened in 1990 in the Seaside Momochi district, is the premier institution for understanding the history and culture of Hakata and Chikuzen Province. Its most celebrated holdings are two National Treasures: the sword Heshikiri Hasebe and the tachi Nikkō Ichimonji. Heshikiri Hasebe, forged by the master smith Hasebe Kunishige in the Nanbokuchō period, is renowned for its dramatic hitatsura hamon (full-blade tempering) and for the legend of Oda Nobunaga pressing it through a tea servant hiding under a shelf. It later passed to Kuroda Kanbei (Josui) and became the paramount treasure of the Kuroda clan of Fukuoka. Its appearance in the game Touken Ranbu sparked a nationwide boom in visitors. Nikkō Ichimonji is a Kamakura-era tachi by the prestigious Ichimonji school of Bizen, celebrated for its gorgeous choji-midare hamon. Beyond these masterpieces, the museum holds an extensive collection of swords, armor, and artifacts from the Kuroda domain. Kuroda Kanbei and his son Nagamasa were among the most powerful daimyo of the Sengoku period, and their legacy permeates the museum's holdings. The museum also covers Hakata's role as Japan's historic gateway to continental Asia, the history of Fukuoka Castle, and local traditional events such as the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival.