Tokushima Castle Museum

The Tokushima Castle Museum stands in Tokushima Central Park, on the site of the palace of Tokushima Castle in the middle of the city. Opened by Tokushima City in October 1992, it collects, preserves, studies and displays the history, art and crafts of the Tokushima Domain and the Hachisuka family, who ruled Awa Province, today's Tokushima, through the Edo period. The permanent exhibition follows five themes, one room each.

The Transition of Domain Administration

The first room traces the history of Awa Province in the Edo period. Its highlights include the "Sekigahara Battle Picture Folding Screen", which depicts the Battle of Sekigahara, a letter from Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the "Tokushima Domain Country Picture Folding Screen", which shows the countryside and towns of Awa in the early Edo period.

The Life and Culture of Daimyo

The second room shows the tools and possessions of the lords from the former Hachisuka family collection, with arms and armour, pottery and other early modern arts and crafts of Awa.

The Castle

The third room is about Tokushima Castle itself, the residence of the Hachisuka lords. Its centrepiece is a 1:50 model of the restored Omote Palace, which gives a rare impression of how the palace looked, together with photographs and finds from the excavation carried out before the museum was built.

Life in the Castle Town

The fourth room recreates the everyday life of the townspeople in the Edo period with material from an old merchant house, including a large tiled storehouse and items from money changers, rice merchants and indigo merchants.

The Awa Navy

The fifth room presents the domain's naval forces. At its centre is the Senzan-maru, the lord's ceremonial whaling boat, used to carry him out to the state ship anchored offshore. It is the only boat of its kind still in existence in Japan and a National Important Cultural Property.

Special exhibitions are held alongside the permanent collection. Museum visitors can also see the Former Tokushima Castle Omote Palace Garden next door, a National Place of Scenic Beauty.