Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives

Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives
山口県文書館
34°10′54″N 131°28′35″E / 34.181540°N 131.476307°E / 34.181540; 131.476307
Location150-1 Ushirogawara, Yamaguchi
EstablishedApril 1959
Collection size530,000
Building information
BuildingYamaguchi Prefectural Library
山口県立山口図書館
WebsiteOfficial website (ja)

Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives (山口県文書館, Yamaguchi-ken Monjo-kan) opened in Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, in 1959 as the country's first dedicated modern archival institution.

History

In Shōwa 27 (1952), the Mōri family, former daimyō of Chōshū Domain, deposited its domainal documents with Yamaguchi Prefecture, whereupon they were stored, alongside materials gathered by the pre-war Prefectural History Compilation Office, at Yamaguchi Prefectural Library (ja). These items were transferred in with the opening of Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives in 1959; donations and deposits - including materials from the Tokuyama Domain Mōri family - have continued since.

Holdings

The archives holds approximately 530,000 documents, roughly divided into five groups:

Cultural Properties

The holdings include seven Important Cultural Properties, two Prefectural Cultural Properties, and three Municipal Tangible Cultural Properties.

Important Cultural Properties

  • Arimitsu Family Documents (有光家文書・長門国正吉郷入江塩浜絵図): 121 items, dating from the Kamakura period to the Edo period, together with a map of the Nagato Province Masayoshi Irie Salt Fields
  • Kumagaya Family Documents (熊谷家文書（二百五十五通）): 255 documents mounted as 13 scrolls, dating from the Kamakura period to the Edo period
  • Takasu Family Documents (高洲家文書・日明貿易船旗): 117 items, dating from 1351–1643, together with a Japan-Ming trade ship flag of Wanli 12 (1584)
  • Ōuchi Edition Lotus Sūtra Woodblocks (大内版法華経板木): 59 woodblocks of the Muromachi period
  • Noshima Murakami Family Documents (能島村上家文書・過所船旗): 199 items from the sixteenth century, together with a flag pass of Tenshō 9 (1581)
  • Administrative Documents of Yamaguchi Prefecture (山口県行政文書): 13,549 items, dating from the Edo period to the Shōwa era
  • Former Yamaguchi Prefectural Office and Prefectural Assembly Hall, together with construction records and plans (山口県旧県庁舎及び県会議事堂附工事関係記録6冊設計図5): 6 construction records and 5 plans, from the Taishō era

Prefectural Cultural Properties

  • Materials relating to Yoshida Shōin (transmitted by the Yoshida family) (吉田松陰関係資料（吉田家伝来）): 754 items, including a portrait inscribed by Yoshida in the fifth month of Ansei 6 (1859), and his zeppitsu or final writing (Tangible Cultural Property)
  • Oda Family Household Items, Merchant House Materials, and Townhouse (小田家の生活用具・商家資料・町家): 1,011 documents (Tangible Folk Cultural Property)

From the archives

See also

References

  1. 1 2 所蔵文書概要 [Overview of the Documents Held] (in Japanese). Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives". Yamaguchi Prefecture. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  3. ↑ Ogawa Chiyoko (1991). "Archives in Japan: The State of the Art". American Archivist. 54. Society of American Archivists: 548. Archived from the original on 2020-03-03. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
  4. ↑ Koga, Takashi (2007). "Overview of Archives and Archival Issues in Japan". p. 3.
  5. 1 2 山口県文書館の歴史 [History of Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives] (in Japanese). Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  6. 1 2 当館蔵の指定文化財 [Cultural Properties at the Archives] (in Japanese). Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  7. ↑ 有光家文書 [Arimitsu Family Documents] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  8. ↑ 長門国正吉郷入江塩浜絵図 [Nagato Province Masayoshi Irie Salt Fields] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  9. ↑ 熊谷家文書（二百五十五通） [Kumagaya Family Documents] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  10. ↑ 高洲家文書 [Takasu Family Documents] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  11. ↑ 日明貿易船旗〈万暦十二年十月吉日／（麻布）〉 [Japan-Ming Trade Ship Flag] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  12. ↑ 大内版法華経板木 [Ōuchi Edition Lotus Sūtra Woodblocks] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  13. ↑ 過所船旗〈天正九年四月廿八日/〉能島村上家文書 [Noshima Murakami Family Documents & Flag Pass] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  14. ↑ 山口県行政文書 [Administrative Documents of Yamaguchi Prefecture] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  15. ↑ 吉田松陰関係資料（吉田家伝来） [Materials relating to Yoshida Shōin (transmitted by the Yoshida family)] (in Japanese). Yamaguchi Prefecture. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  16. ↑ 小田家の生活用具・商家資料・町家 [Oda Family Household Items, Merchant House Materials, and Townhouse] (in Japanese). Yamaguchi Prefecture. Retrieved 23 August 2020.