Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives Explained

Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives 山口県文書館
Image Caption:	Yamaguchi Prefectural Library
Creation:	April 1959
Collection Size:	530,000^[1]
Address:	150-1 Ushirogawara
Coordinates:	34.1815°N 131.4763°W
Site:	(ja)

opened in Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, in 1959 as the country's first dedicated modern archival institution.^{[2] [3] [4]}

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 .^[5] 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.^[5]

Holdings

The archives holds approximately 530,000 documents, roughly divided into five groups:^[1]

• Domain documents, including:
  • • • • • • Administrative documents, from the Meiji era onwards
• Administrative materials, from the Meiji era onwards
  • Publications, photographs, films, audio recordings, etc.
• Family documents, including:
  • Corporation, foundation, and family documents, including those of Edo period samurai houses
• Special library
  • Textbooks, newspapers, etc.

Cultural Properties

The holdings include seven Important Cultural Properties, two Prefectural Cultural Properties, and three Municipal Tangible Cultural Properties.^[6]

Important Cultural Properties

• : 121 items, dating from the Kamakura period to the Edo period, together with a map of the Nagato Province Masayoshi Irie Salt Fields^{[7] [8]}
• : 255 documents mounted as 13 scrolls, dating from the Kamakura period to the Edo period^[9]
• : 117 items, dating from 1351–1643, together with a Japan-Ming trade ship flag of Wanli 12 (1584)^{[10] [11]}
• : 59 woodblocks of the Muromachi period^[12]
• : 199 items from the sixteenth century, together with a flag pass of Tenshō 9 (1581)^[13]
• : 13,549 items, dating from the Edo period to the Shōwa era^[14]
• : 6 construction records and 5 plans, from the Taishō era^[6]

Prefectural Cultural Properties

• : 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)^[15]
• : 1,011 documents (Tangible Folk Cultural Property)^[16]

See also

• List of archives in Japan
• Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum
• List of Historic Sites of Japan (Yamaguchi)
• Cultural Property (Japan)

External links

• Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives
• Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives

Notes and References

1. Web site: http://archives.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/index/page/id/395 . ja:所蔵文書概要 . Overview of the Documents Held . ja . Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives . 23 August 2020.
2. Web site: Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives . . 23 August 2020.
3. Archives in Japan: The State of the Art . Ogawa Chiyoko . . . 1991 . 54 . 548.
4. Web site: Overview of Archives and Archival Issues in Japan . Koga, Takashi . 2007 . 3.
5. Web site: http://archives.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/index/page/id/154 . ja:山口県文書館の歴史 . History of Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives . ja . Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives . 23 August 2020.
6. Web site: http://archives.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/index/page/id/408 . ja:当館蔵の指定文化財 . Cultural Properties at the Archives . ja . Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives . 23 August 2020.
7. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/201/9126 . ja:有光家文書 . Arimitsu Family Documents . ja . . 23 August 2020.
8. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/201/9127 . ja:長門国正吉郷入江塩浜絵図 . Nagato Province Masayoshi Irie Salt Fields . ja . . 23 August 2020.
9. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/201/9607 . ja:熊谷家文書（二百五十五通） . Kumagaya Family Documents . ja . . 23 August 2020.
10. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/201/00011357 . ja:高洲家文書 . Takasu Family Documents . ja . . 23 August 2020.
11. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/201/00011356 . ja:日明貿易船旗〈万暦十二年十月吉日／（麻布）〉. Japan-Ming Trade Ship Flag . ja . . 23 August 2020.
12. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/201/10280 . ja:大内版法華経板木 . Ōuchi Edition Lotus Sūtra Woodblocks . ja . . 23 August 2020.
13. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/201/00011690 . ja: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 . ja . . 23 August 2020.
14. Web site: https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/201/00010675 . ja:山口県行政文書 . Administrative Documents of Yamaguchi Prefecture . ja . . 23 August 2020.
15. Web site: https://bunkazai.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/bunkazai/detail.asp?mid=110125 . ja:吉田松陰関係資料（吉田家伝来）. Materials relating to Yoshida Shōin (transmitted by the Yoshida family) . ja . . 23 August 2020.
16. Web site: https://bunkazai.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/bunkazai/detail.asp?mid=80040 . ja:小田家の生活用具・商家資料・町家. Oda Family Household Items, Merchant House Materials, and Townhouse . ja . . 23 August 2020.