# Shoko Shuseikan

> The Shimazu family's history museum, housed since 1923 in the stone machine factory of the Satsuma domain's Shuseikan works, finished in 1865. The museum calls it the oldest Western-style factory building still standing in Japan. It is part of the Former Shuseikan component of the Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution, and one 1,600 yen ticket covers it together with Sengan-en next door.

- Prefecture: Kagoshima
- Type: Museum
- Address: Kagoshima, Japan
- Opening hours: Mon–Sun 09:00–17:00
- Closed: Closed only on the first Sunday of March, the day of the Kagoshima Marathon.
- Admission: 1600 yen
- Official site: https://www.shuseikan.jp/

The long, low stone building next to the gate of Sengan-en looks more like a warehouse than a museum. It was built as the machine factory of the Shuseikan, the industrial works the Satsuma domain ran on the shore at Iso, and it was finished in 1865. Shimazu Nariakira, who became lord of Satsuma in 1851, cleared land beside the family villa and started building Western-style workshops there: a reverberatory furnace, a blast furnace, glassworks and more. The British bombardment of Kagoshima in 1863 burned the first works, and his successors rebuilt them. This factory, made of dressed stone over a floor area of about 977 square metres, is the part that survived in one piece. The museum calls it the oldest Western-style factory building still standing in Japan, and it has been a museum since 1923.

It is part of the Former Shuseikan component of the Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution, inscribed in July 2015. The component also takes in the stone remains of the reverberatory furnace inside Sengan-en and the engineers' residence built for the British staff of the Kagoshima Spinning Mill, nearby.

Inside are Shimazu family things from more than 700 years of rule in southern Kyushu: over 10,000 items in the collection, family heirlooms and records, and Meiji-era machinery from the factory years. The permanent exhibition was redone in October 2024. Plan on about 45 minutes here. You cannot buy a museum-only ticket: the single 1,600 yen ticket (1,500 yen online) covers Sengan-en, its Goten residence and this museum, so most people do the garden first and come in here to cool off. Open 9:00 to 17:00; the only closed day is the first Sunday of March.

## FAQ

### Can I visit the museum without paying for Sengan-en?

No. Since October 2024 the only ticket is the combined one for Sengan-en, the Goten residence and Shoko Shuseikan: 1,600 yen for adults, or 1,500 yen online.

### What part of the World Heritage site is this?

The museum building is the 1865 machine factory of the Former Shuseikan, one of the 23 parts of the Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution. The same component includes the reverberatory furnace remains inside Sengan-en and the nearby engineers' residence of the Kagoshima Spinning Mill.

### How long should I allow for Sengan-en and the museum together?

Two to three hours for the garden, the Goten residence and the museum. The museum alone takes about 45 minutes.

### When is it closed?

Only on the first Sunday of March, the day of the Kagoshima Marathon. Otherwise it is open every day from 9:00 to 17:00.

---
Source: Shoko Shuseikan — Japan Voyage