Katsuyama Castle Museum

Katsuyama Castle Museum (勝山城博物館, Katsuyama-jō Hakubutsukan) is a museum that is in the city of Katsuyama in Fukui Prefecture in Japan. The museum was finished on July 19, 1992. It is considered to be the tallest castle building in Japan, at 57.8 meters, but it is not a true castle, as it is a mock structure. It was built to look like the Himeji castle. The museum also stands out because it has dragons cut into its foundation stone, which is unusual for a Japanese castle.  

 History behind the construction 
During the Edo period in Japan, the territory of modern Katsuyama City belonged to the Echizen-Katsuyama Domain (region). During that time, the city was planning to build a tenshu. However, for different reasons, such as the laws that were in place at that time, the city was never able to finish it. Kiyoshi Tada, who was born in Katsuyama and who was the founder of Sōgōtakushi, a taxi company that is nowadays divided into many different taxi companies, decided to build a castle, and put into life the long wish of people for a tenshu. Instead of a usual castle he built a museum that looks like a castle, where different items from his own collection are displayed nowadays, including various samurai armor, swords, and traditional folding screens. The museum was built close to another gift to Katsuyama from Kiyoshi Tada--Echizen Daibutsu, a complex of buildings built in a traditional Japanese style with a huge Buddha statue in it. The cost of construction was 10 billion yen.

 Modern times 
Since the opening, the museum has been managed by the Tada Kiyoshi Cultural Educational Commemoration Foundation (多田清文化教育記念財団, Tada Kiyoshi Bunka Kyōiku Kinen Zaidan). In 2014, the Katsuyama Castle Museum started working together with the Katsuyama City government.

In addition to Kiyoshi Tada’s own collection, the museum also displays a collection of more than 800 articles of embroidery of the Qing dynasty in China. There is also a collection of works by famous calligrapher Goseki Nishiwaki shown in the museum.

Many events are held on the museum territory throughout the year, including tea ceremonies, haiku competitions, various concerts, and collaborations with the government and other museums. (Please check the information before visiting there as the event may be canceled or changed due to the influence of the coronavirus.

In 2019 alone 12,500 people visited either the museum and/or the Echizen Daibutsu.

You can overlook the city of Katsuyama from the observation room on the top floor. 

We can get to the museum for about 15 minutes from Katsuyama station by bus. This museum closed on Wednesday and open from 9:30 to 16:30 except Wednesday.

 References 


 Other websites 

 Katsuyama Castle Museum website 
 Katsuyama Castle Museum Twitter account (@katsuyamacastle)
 Katsuyama Castle Museum on Fukui Museum Association website 
 Katsuyama City website
 Fukui Prefecture website

Category:Castles in Japan
Category:Museums in Japan
Category:Fukui Prefecture
Category:Buildings and structures in Fukui Prefecture
Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 1990s