Seto Inland Sea Folk History Museum

The Seto Inland Sea Folk History Museum is a regional museum in Takamatsu that documents the maritime traditions of the area through extensive collections. The displays include thousands of fishing tools, transportation devices, and shipbuilding equipment that show how people here lived from the sea over centuries.

The museum was established in 1973 to preserve the maritime traditions that have long shaped life in the region. It became an important place to document skills and knowledge that might otherwise have been lost as the community changed.

The exhibits reveal how deeply local communities depended on the sea, showing shipbuilding and fishing tools that were central to daily life in the region. Visitors can understand the skills and knowledge that families passed down through generations to survive and thrive on the water.

The museum is located in the city center and is open from Tuesday through Sunday, with visit length depending on how deeply you explore the displays. The collections are spread out generously, so plan to spend several hours if you want to see everything.

The building itself is architecturally noteworthy and received recognition for its modern design when it opened. It belongs to a select group of one hundred significant public buildings in Japan, showing that the structure is as carefully thought out as the collections inside.

Location: Takamatsu

Inception: 1973

Architects: Tadashi Yamamoto

Official opening: January 3, 1973

Part of: 100 Best Public Buildings in Japan

Address: 1412-2 Tarumi-chō, Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture

Website: https://pref.kagawa.lg.jp/kmuseum/setorekishi

GPS coordinates: 34.37835,133.93126

Latest update: December 13, 2025 11:41