尚古集成館

Shōkoshūseikan, housed in the stone building of the Shimazu clan's 1851 modern factory at Sengan-en estate in Kagoshima, is Japan's oldest museum of a daimyo family and a UNESCO World Heritage Site component. The Shimazu family, ruling Satsuma Province for over 770 years, accumulated one of Japan's greatest collections of samurai arms. The museum displays the Satsuma sword tradition — the Nami-hira school founded in the late Heian period and patronized by the Shimazu throughout the Edo period — alongside armor worn in actual battles including the Battle of Sekigahara. The distinctive Satsuma metalwork style ('Satsuma sukashi') fittings and armor crafted for the Jigen-ryū school of swordsmanship are centerpieces. The museum sits within the spectacular Sengan-en garden with Sakurajima as backdrop.