Special exhibition "Turmoil at the end of Edo Period, and Fukui" at Fukui Prefectural Museum of Cultural History

I saw the special exhibition at Fukui Prefectural Museum of Cultural History the other day.

This exhibition includes two valuable items which are shown for the first time. One is an original letter of Ryoma Sakamoto with written seal mark. And another is a kimono with family crest of Sanai Hashimoto.

The Ryoma's letter informed Ujihisa Murata, a retainer of Fukui Domain, that Ryoma would go to Kanto area with retainers of Satsuma Domain. The Ryoma's original letter with written seal mark is the only one in the nation, which is very precious.

On the other hand, the kimono of Sanai Hashimoto, whose mother Umeo had kept it as Sanai's belonging. The outer material is black silk and the lining is indigo-dyed. The indigo looks bright even now, and I felt like I witnessed Sanai was really young. *Sanai was executed at the age of 25.

 In addition, a hanging scroll of "Keihatsuroku", which Sanai had written himself (from the Museum of Imperial Collections) was displayed. His handwriting was well-organized and I could tell that he was so smart.

Other than these, the letters and historical materials of Shungaku Matsudaira, Kimimasa Yuri, Shonan Yokoi, Ryoma Sakamoto and Takamori Saigo were displayed, which were worth seeing. (H.S)