備前長船刀劍博物館

Bizen Osafune Sword Museum (Bizen Osafune Sword Museum) is a museum that exhibits swords located in Osafune, Nagamune-cho, Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture. It was originally established as the Osafune Town Museum, but was renovated in 2004 with the addition of a workshop in order to establish a museum specializing in swords following the merger of Osafune Town, Oku Town, and Ushimado Town. As of 2020, it mainly displays Bizen swords made in Bizen Province. == History == Around 1981, Tennosha Sword Forest was gaining momentum for holding sword exhibitions. Reasons for this were that it was the birthplace of Bizen Osafune, that Saihoji Jigen-in, the family temple of swordsmiths, was located nearby, and that swordsmith Imaizumi Sei, a holder of Okayama Prefecture's important intangible cultural property techniques, moved there. In order to prevent theft and dampness during the exhibition, a permanent museum was required to be built. In the same year, Tennosha Sword Forest, along with the Fukuoka Castle Ruins Hill, became designated local monuments of Okayama Prefecture, and this movement gained momentum, and in July, the History and Folklore Museum Construction Promotion Committee was established. In addition to moving ahead with the construction plan while receiving support from the national and prefectural governments, they also established a construction fund fundraising committee and conducted fundraising activities. Construction began in August 1982, and the facility was built on a site of 2,758 square meters, with two floors of reinforced concrete, and a total area of ​​666 square meters. It was built as the first public museum in Japan to have a permanent exhibition of swords.