Zōzan Memorial Hall, Biographical museum in Matsushiro, Nagano, Japan.
The Zōzan Memorial Hall is a museum in Matsushiro dedicated to Sakuma Zozan, a 19th-century scholar. It displays his personal items, written notes, and instruments that he used during his research and experiments.
Sakuma Zōzan died in 1864; a century later, in 1964, local supporters formed the Zōzan Sensei Centenary Association, which opened this memorial hall in 1965. The city of Nagano took it over in 1967. In 1997 a Matsushiro Communications Museum opened on the second floor, but it has since closed.
Locals call the hall "Zōzan" rather than the usual "Shōzan", a reading the museum adopted because it is how Matsushiro has long said the name. The collection also covers figures from the town who shaped Japan's communications and postal services, among them Komatsu Kenjirō and Hihata Sekko.
The hall is in Matsushiro, Nagano; from Nagano Station take Alpico Kotsu (Kawanakajima Bus) lines 30 or 48 and get off at Matsushiro Hachijuni Ginko-mae. By car it is about five minutes from Nagano Interchange on the Joshinetsu Expressway. It opens 9:00-17:00 and closes on Tuesdays, except when Tuesday is a public holiday.
The museum preserves original telegraph equipment that Sakuma Zozan used while experimenting with Western communication technologies. These artifacts show his hands-on approach to understanding new inventions.
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