Two Storehouses on the Hill Above Hirado
Senkinko (仙禽庫, Senkinkō), a two-storey earthen-walled storehouse at 13-3 Otachi, Kagamigawachō, Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture, was built in the closing decades of the Edo period, relocated to its present site in the early Meiji era, and entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 19 December 2014.
It stands on the ground north of the Matsura Historical Museum (松浦史料博物館, the surname also transliterated Matsuura), its ridge running east to west, its front facing south. Beside it sits a second storehouse, Kongōko, on much the same alignment. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records Senkinko as six bays along the ridge by two and a half bays deep, with a hipped roof of sangawara pantiles, the entrance on the long side, and a geya lean-to sheltering the doorway. Registered building area is 126 square metres.
The construction is dozō-zukuri: a timber frame packed and rendered in thick earth, the walls finished so that fire finds nothing to catch. Storehouses of this kind held what a household could not afford to lose. Hirado's held documents.
Ownership rests with the Matsura Historical Museum Foundation, a public-interest incorporated foundation. The registration number is 42-0120, from the seventy-ninth round of registrations.
A Floor Raised for Paper
The detail the Agency for Cultural Affairs chose to record is the floor height. Senkinko sits noticeably high off the ground, and the database entry reads that as deliberate damp control.
That matters because of what the building is said to have been. Local tradition holds that it was a bunko, a document store, moved out of Hirado Castle when the castle was dismantled after the Meiji Restoration. Paper on a windward island in the East China Sea does not survive at ground level. A raised floor with air moving underneath is precisely the specification a document store would need, which is why the Agency describes the building as fitted out in a manner befitting that tradition. The wording is careful, and so is the claim: the tradition is supported by the fabric, not proved by it.
Some context sharpens the point without settling it. Hirado Castle held the Rakusaidō, the collection facility assembled by Matsura Seizan (1760 to 1841), ninth daimyo of Hirado and thirty-fourth head of the Matsura family, a man remembered for the sprawling essay collection Kasshi Yawa and for buying books, globes and celestial spheres at a rate that alarmed his retainers. Roughly thirty thousand items now held by the museum descend from that habit. What the surviving records do not establish is that this particular building housed them.
Senkinko was registered under the criterion covering structures that contribute to the historical landscape of the country, and the phrasing fits. Value here lies less in a single detail of carpentry than in the fact that a working castle outbuilding was carried down the hill, re-erected, and put back to work storing the same family's papers for another century and a half.
Getting There, and What Is Open
Senkinko remains a collection facility. The interior is not opened to the public, and the same applies to Kongōko and to the Matsura family's present residence nearby. Visitors who want to see the storehouses should ask at the museum reception rather than assume access; staff will say what can be viewed on the day.
The museum itself is open, and it is the reason to come. The main exhibition building is the Chitosekaku, raised in 1893 as Tsurugamine-tei, the private house of Matsura Akira, thirty-seventh head of the family, on the site where the lords of Hirado had kept their residence, the Otachi, since the seventeenth century. Nagasaki Prefecture has designated the building a prefectural Tangible Cultural Property. It became a museum in October 1955. Inside are armour, scrolls, lacquer, tea utensils and the trade and Christian-era documents that draw researchers from outside Japan. In the garden, the Kanuntei tea house serves matcha in the Chinshin style of tea, founded by a seventeenth-century lord of the domain.
Opening hours run from 8:30 to 17:30, with closure only over the New Year period, 29 December to 1 January. Admission at the time of writing is 660 yen for adults and 330 yen for school-age visitors, and a combined ticket with the reconstructed Dutch Trading Post down at the harbour is usually the better value. Prices change; the museum website carries the current figures.
From the Hirado Sanbashi bus stop the walk takes about five minutes, ending at a stone stairway of seventy-eight steps that the lords of Hirado climbed themselves. There is no way around it. From the top the strait opens out, with Hirado Castle on its headland across the water, and the storehouses stand on the level ground behind you. Photography rules inside the museum vary with what is on display, so check at the desk.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside Senkinko?
- No. Senkinko is a working storehouse for the Matsura Historical Museum's collection and the interior is not opened to visitors. It stands on the ground north of the museum. Ask at reception about what can be seen from the grounds on the day of your visit.
- Where is Senkinko and how do I reach it?
- The address is 13-3 Otachi, Kagamigawachō, Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture, on the Matsura Historical Museum site. From the Hirado Sanbashi bus stop it is roughly five minutes on foot, finishing with a stone stairway of seventy-eight steps. The museum opens 8:30 to 17:30 and closes only from 29 December to 1 January.
- Was Senkinko really moved from Hirado Castle?
- That is the tradition, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as such rather than as established fact. The high floor and the damp-control measures match what a castle document store would require, which is the evidence the database cites. No document confirming the move has been published.
- Is Senkinko a National Treasure or an Important Cultural Property?
- Neither. Senkinko is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, registration number 42-0120, entered on 19 December 2014 under the criterion for structures contributing to the historical landscape. Registration is a lighter framework than the designation system that covers National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties.
- What is the difference between Senkinko and Kongōko next to it?
- Kongōko is the smaller of the pair at 100 square metres, five bays by two and a half, with a gabled roof, vertical board cladding and iron-plated front doors, and its ridge runs north to south. Senkinko is hipped, larger at 126 square metres, and aligned east to west. Both were registered on the same day and both are said to have come from the castle.
Basic Information
| Name | Senkinko (仙禽庫) |
|---|---|
| Location | 13-3 Otachi, Kagamigawachō, Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 42-0120; criterion: contributes to the historical landscape |
| Year Designated | Registered 19 December 2014 (Heisei 26) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled construction, two storeys, tile roof; building area 126 m². Six bays along the ridge by two and a half deep, hipped pantile roof, entered on the long side, lean-to over the front entrance, raised floor |
| Owner | Matsura Historical Museum Foundation (public-interest incorporated foundation) |
| Public Access | Interior not open. Located on the Matsura Historical Museum grounds; enquire at reception |
References
- 仙禽庫 — National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010382
- 仙禽庫 — Cultural Heritage Online, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/211044
- 金剛庫 — Cultural Heritage Online, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/278073
- 松浦家住宅主屋 — Cultural Heritage Online, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/235431
- 入館のご案内 — Matsura Historical Museum
- https://www.matsura.or.jp/goriyou/annai/
Last verified: 2026.08.20