Ieyasu and the Toyotomi Regime: Shizuoka City History Museum Exhibition
On view from 10 October to 29 November 2026 in the third-floor gallery. I spent 72 minutes there on the morning of 11 October. The exhibition centres on letters, decrees and diaries, with more than 100 items. The sword mounting (koshirae) goes on display on 4 November.
Shizuoka City History Museum, in Oitecho, Aoi Ward, is holding the special exhibition “Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Toyotomi Regime” on its third floor from 10 October to 29 November 2026. It is a 15-minute walk from the north exit of JR Shizuoka Station. From Tokyo, Shinagawa or Shin-Yokohama, or from Nagoya, Kyoto or Shin-Osaka, take a Tokaido Shinkansen Kodama or one of the Hikari trains that stop at Shizuoka. Nozomi trains do not stop there.
The exhibition looks at Ieyasu as one of the powerful lords who supported Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s government, rather than only as Hideyoshi’s rival. Ieyasu moved his base to Sunpu, today’s Shizuoka, in 1586 and ruled from there until 1590, so much of what is shown ties back to this city.
I visited on the morning of 11 October and spent 72 minutes inside, from 9:07 to 10:19. The display is built mostly around documents: letters, decrees and diaries. The museum says more than 100 items come from over 20 lenders. If you hope to see rooms full of armour and weapons, it may feel thin. If you want to see how Ieyasu and Hideyoshi dealt with each other through the records of the time, it is worth the trip.
One detail affects your timing. The tachi sword signed Nagamitsu (No. 23) has a matching sword mounting, but that mounting is only on view from 4 to 29 November. When I went on 11 October, only the blade and tang were out. If you want to see the mounting, plan your visit for 4 November or later.
The museum’s permanent exhibition on the second floor is covered in my guide to Shizuoka City History Museum.
- Dates, tickets and what each ticket includes
- Time needed and what to look for
- Original documents, objects and excavated tiles
- Tachi signed Osafune junin Nagamitsu, and its box (No. 23)
- Hideyoshi’s decree and Ieyasu’s decree and notice board (Nos. 52, 1 and 2)
- The Diary of Matsudaira Ietada (Nos. 7, 22, 24, 62 and 76)
- Gilded roof tiles and excavated tiles from Sunpu Castle (Nos. 39–49)
- Tokugawa seven-article ordinance (No. 36)
- Echizen Yasutsugu’s katana (No. 100)
- War fan, battle drum and the Usuzumi flute (Nos. 92, 87 and 63)
- What I learned from the Ieyasu and Hideyoshi talk
- Getting there and nearby sites linked to the exhibition
- Related events, catalogue and photography
- Frequently asked questions
Dates, tickets and what each ticket includes
There are two kinds of ticket: one for the third-floor special exhibition only, and a combined ticket that adds the permanent exhibition on the second floor. During this exhibition the third-floor permanent gallery 2 is closed until 12 December, so the permanent exhibition is on the second floor only.
| Exhibition-only ticket | Covers the third-floor special exhibition. Adults ¥600; high school and university students, and Shizuoka residents aged 70 or over, ¥420; elementary and junior high students ¥150. |
|---|---|
| Combined ticket | Covers the special exhibition and the second-floor permanent exhibition. Adults ¥1,200; students and residents aged 70 or over ¥840; elementary and junior high students ¥300. |
| Same-day discount | If you used the Sunpu Castle Park paid facilities (Higashi-gomon and Tatsumi-yagura, Hitsujisaru-yagura or the Japanese garden) on the same day and show your joint-ticket stub, the combined ticket is ¥1,100 for adults (¥770 and ¥270 for the other categories). The official page does not list this discount for the exhibition-only ticket. |
| Free admission | Children below school age, and elementary and junior high students who live or study in Shizuoka City. Holders of a disability certificate and one companion also enter free. |
| Hours | 9:00–18:00, with last entry 30 minutes before closing. On 24 and 31 October and on 1, 3 and 28 November the museum stays open until 19:00. |
| Closed | Mondays. If a Monday is a public holiday, the museum opens and closes the next weekday instead. |
| Buying online | The official ticket site (e-tix) sells both ticket types. If you want to use a discount coupon, buy at the counter on the day. Online tickets cannot be changed and can be cancelled until 8:00 on the day. |
If you only want the special exhibition, the ¥600 ticket is enough. Choose the combined ticket if you also plan to spend time on the second floor. If you are visiting Sunpu Castle Park’s paid facilities the same day, the joint-ticket stub takes ¥100 off the combined ticket. That alone is not a reason to buy a park ticket.
Time needed and what to look for
My visit took 72 minutes, from 9:07 to 10:19. I did not time the label-reading and the photo-taking separately. On the morning of 11 October I never had to queue in front of a display case. When I arrived around 8:50, five to eight people were already lined up at the entrance, and a queue formed behind me when I went in. The 72 minutes is simply what I spent that morning, and it excludes the one-hour talk I attended downstairs and the permanent exhibition.
Who it suits
Visitors who want to learn about the events and relationship between Ieyasu and Hideyoshi through diaries, letters and decrees. Each section comes with background explanations, so it works both as a refresher on what you already know and as a source of new details.
Who may be disappointed
A war fan, a flute and a battle drum are on show, but the exhibition is mostly documents. Documents are original period objects too, yet if you hope to see many three-dimensional pieces such as armour and weapons, it may feel light.
You do not need to read old Japanese script to enjoy it. Paper size, seal positions, and the boxes or wooden boards that came with a document all give you something to compare. I explain how to look at them in the talk section below.
Original documents, objects and excavated tiles
Photography is banned in the gallery except for items marked as permitted, and the photos on this page show only those items. Item numbers follow the museum’s official exhibit list (PDF, with English titles). Even when a letter carries a warlord’s name, a scribe may have written the text, so it is not necessarily in his own hand.
Tachi signed Osafune junin Nagamitsu, and its box (No. 23)
A Kamakura-period blade and a box with two crests
Tradition says Hideyoshi gave this sword to Ieyasu, who later dedicated it to Shizuoka Asama Shrine. It is a Kamakura-period work by Nagamitsu, and the museum describes this as its first public showing. The gift and the dedication come from the label’s account of the sword’s history. The accompanying itomaki-style mounting (koshirae) is shown only from 4 to 29 November, and it was not on view when I visited.
The sword box is a long, narrow case with a purple cord. Gilded Tokugawa hollyhock and Toyotomi paulownia crests decorate the lid. The label presents it as the box that held the Nagamitsu tachi. Seen together with the blade, it gives you a way to think about the relationship in which the sword was handed down.
Tap a photo to enlarge it.
Hideyoshi’s decree and Ieyasu’s decree and notice board (Nos. 52, 1 and 2)
Orders that kept armies from harming a place
A kinsei is a decree that forbids soldiers from violence and arson, which in practice protected the place that held it. No. 52, Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s decree of 1590 (Tensho 18, Shizuoka Asama Shrine), is on a large sheet of paper that caught my eye. Nos. 1 and 2 are Tokugawa Ieyasu’s decrees of 1582 (Tensho 10) kept at Seikenji Temple: one is a wooden notice board and the other is a paper document, shown side by side. How to look at the paper size and the notice board comes from the talk I attended, and I describe it in the talk section.
The Diary of Matsudaira Ietada (Nos. 7, 22, 24, 62 and 76)
The diary of one of Ieyasu’s retainers
Five original volumes (volumes 3 to 7) of Matsudaira Ietada’s diary are on show, and they appear in several parts of the exhibition. What I saw was a heavily cursive hand: lines that do not stay in order, and extra characters squeezed into the blank spaces. I was amazed that anyone could decipher it.
The exhibition connected volume 3 to the Honnoji Incident. According to the explanation from Komazawa University, which holds the diary, it records a false report that Oda Nobuzumi had sided with Akechi Mitsuhide, followed by a note correcting it. That shows how unsettled information was right after the event. I had heard of these events, but I did not know until this exhibition that they survive in a diary like this.
Gilded roof tiles and excavated tiles from Sunpu Castle (Nos. 39–49)
Roof decoration from the Tensho-era castle
These gilded tiles are said to have been used on the keep of Sunpu Castle in the Tensho era (1573–92), and they are shown with excavated ornamental tiles. Fragments with gold leaf can be seen up close. The Higashi-gomon (reconstructed in 1996) and Tatsumi-yagura (1989) in today’s Sunpu Castle Park are reconstructions, not buildings from the time of these tiles. Keeping that gap in mind helps when you compare the tiles with the castle site.
Tap a photo to enlarge it.
Tokugawa seven-article ordinance (No. 36)
Rules on taxes and labour, 1589
This ordinance of 1589 (Tensho 17), issued to Komagoe, sets out tax and labour duties. It is presented as evidence of how Ieyasu governed his territory. The display includes a printed transcription and a guide written for children, so even without reading the cursive script you can follow the seven articles against the original.
Tap a photo to enlarge it.
Echizen Yasutsugu’s katana (No. 100)
An early Edo-period sword forged in Sunpu
The label says the first Echizen Yasutsugu forged this early Edo-period katana in Sunpu with imported iron; after Ieyasu’s death it is said to have passed to his tenth son, Yorinobu.
Tap a photo to enlarge it.
War fan, battle drum and the Usuzumi flute (Nos. 92, 87 and 63)
Few weapons or tools; treat their stories as tradition
Among the documents, the exhibition also shows a war fan, a portable battle drum and a flute. The war fan is said to have been used by Ieyasu. The three images here are AI illustrations, not photographs taken in the gallery. They illustrate the traditional accounts and do not show what the real objects look like.
All three objects come with traditional accounts of who used them and where they came from. Being on display does not by itself establish who used an object or in which battle.
What I learned from the Ieyasu and Hideyoshi talk
At 13:30 on 11 October I attended “Ieyasu and Hideyoshi in Shizuoka,” a one-hour talk by a museum curator in the first-floor community space. It was free with no registration, and it has already taken place. It gave me concrete things to look for in the gallery. The interpretations below were presented in the talk and are not necessarily settled history.
A little background first. Ieyasu moved his base to Sunpu in 1586 and held it for about four years, until 1590. In 1590 Hideyoshi stayed at Seikenji Temple on his way to the Odawara campaign, and after Ieyasu moved to the Kanto region, Nakamura Kazuuji governed Suruga. Some of the exhibits relate to those years in Suruga.
Compare paper size and seals
The curator suggested comparing documents by Ieyasu and Hideyoshi and paying attention to the size of the paper. One reading is that Hideyoshi’s large documents show an intention to display his authority. That is the curator’s interpretation. The No. 52 decree by Hideyoshi is on a large sheet, and it stood out in person. Thinking about how an order was delivered, not only what it said, also makes you wonder how the temples and shrines that received it handled it. You can compare paper size and seal position even if you cannot read the text.
The crests on the sword box
The curator presented the box with Tokugawa hollyhock and Toyotomi paulownia crests as an item that symbolises the sword’s history as a gift from Hideyoshi to Ieyasu. The curator also said it is unclear whether the box was made at the same time as the sword. The crests alone cannot prove how the gift was made. I found it useful to separate the tradition from what the surviving objects can confirm.
Seikenji’s decree and its wooden board
Seikenji Temple keeps both a paper decree by Ieyasu and a wooden notice board. According to the talk, the temple copied the decree’s contents onto a board and displayed it at the gate to tell passing troops what was forbidden. A paper order is issued, and then it takes a form people can see on site. In the gallery, compare the paper and the board and ask who was meant to read the order and who was expected to obey it. I have not confirmed where the board was actually hung.
The night before Ieyasu met Hideyoshi
The curator described how, on the night before their formal meeting, Hideyoshi visited Ieyasu, who was staying at Hidenaga’s residence, and the two drank together; this was drawn from Ietada’s diary. The National Archives of Japan’s commentary also records the visit and the exchange of cups the day before the meeting. A meeting I knew as a political event gains concrete detail.
Was rebuilding Asama Shrine a bid for local support?
The curator also offered a view that Ieyasu’s construction and restoration work at Shizuoka Asama Shrine was an effort to win the support of the people of Suruga. This is the speaker’s hypothesis, not a confirmed statement of Ieyasu’s intent. I took it as a way to look at a shrine building through the relationship between a ruler and local people.
Linking the exhibition to sites in Shizuoka
| Shizuoka Asama Shrine | Ieyasu’s construction work and its link to local people; the story behind the dedicated sword |
|---|---|
| Zuiryuji Temple | The memorial for Asahi-hime, and a document in which Hideyoshi protected the temple |
| Seikenji Temple | Hideyoshi’s stop there on the Odawara campaign, and the exchanges that continued afterwards |
If you plan to visit, keep three things in mind.
- Compare the size and seals of documents with the ones next to them.
- Look at what came with an item, such as a sword box or a wooden board.
- When you see a temple or shrine name, check where it leads on the ground.
Getting there and nearby sites linked to the exhibition
Getting to Shizuoka City History Museum
| Address | 4-16 Oitecho, Aoi Ward, Shizuoka. The special exhibition is on the third floor; the first floor is free to enter. |
|---|---|
| From JR Shizuoka Station (CA17) | About 15 minutes on foot from the north exit (official figure). |
| From Shin-Shizuoka Station (S01) | About 8 minutes on foot from the Shizutetsu station (official figure). |
| By bus | About 6 minutes on foot from the “Kencho / Shizuoka City Hall Aoi Ward Office” stop (official figure). I have not checked boarding points or ride times. |
| By Shinkansen | Kodama and some Hikari trains stop at Shizuoka. From Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama, or from Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka, choose a train that stops there. Check travel time and fares when you search for your travel date. |
Walking route from JR Shizuoka Station to the museum (Google Maps). From Shin-Shizuoka Station, see this route.
These sites connect to the exhibition. Opening hours and last entry differ by site, and I have not checked whether you can fit all of them into one day. The exhibition page on the museum’s website also offers a map of related places (official page; an English event page is here).
| Sunpu Castle Park | Connects the gilded tiles with the castle site. Higashi-gomon and Tatsumi-yagura are open 9:00–16:30 (last entry 16:00), earlier than the museum closes. |
|---|---|
| Zuiryuji Temple (Iimiya, Aoi Ward) | Holds the grave of Asahi-hime, Hideyoshi’s sister and Ieyasu’s wife. It is 1.7 km from the museum, and about 25 minutes on foot by my own estimate. I went there; I will cover the temple in a separate article. |
| Shizuoka Asama Shrine | Holds the Nagamitsu tachi and the war fan; Ieyasu was involved in the shrine’s construction. |
| Seikenji Temple (Okitsu, Shimizu Ward) | Linked through Ieyasu’s decree and notice board, Hideyoshi’s stay, and the story of its bell. The official map shows JR Okitsu Station as the nearest station, so it is a separate trip from the city-centre walk. Posted admission is ¥300 for adults, ¥200 for junior and senior high students and ¥100 for elementary students (checked 13 October 2026; confirm opening hours separately). |
| Hodaiin Temple | Linked to Saigo no Tsubone, Hidetada’s mother, and the holder of the imperial edict by Emperor Gomizunoo (No. 29). |
| Kiyomizudera (Otowa-cho, Aoi Ward) | Lent Nos. 34, 70 and 96 and is a stop on the official 15 November tour. It is a different temple from Seikenji and from Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto. |
| Kunozan Toshogu | Another Ieyasu site, but a separate trip from the walking route around the city centre. |
The exhibition also includes a lacquered tray with paulownia crests (No. 28) from Zuiryuji. Tradition says Hideyoshi used it when he set out for the Odawara campaign in 1590.
Related events, catalogue and photography
These are upcoming events from the official pages as of 13 October 2026, in date order. Museum talks are held in the first-floor community space, free and without registration. Gallery talks take place in the third-floor gallery and need an exhibition ticket. All are in Japanese, and I have not confirmed any English support.
| Sat 17 Oct | Craft workshop “Mini helmets of Sengoku warriors” (check-in 13:30–15:00, first floor, free) |
|---|---|
| Sun 18 Oct | Talk on Nakamura Kazuuji, a Toyotomi daimyo of Suruga (13:30–14:30) |
| Sat 24 Oct | Gallery talk (16:30) |
| Sat 31 Oct | Talk on Sunpu Castle in the Tensho era, from excavation results (13:30–14:30); gallery talk (16:30) |
| Sun 1 Nov, Tue 3 Nov (holiday) | Gallery talk (17:30) |
| Sat 7 Nov | Lecture “Exploring the relationship between Ieyasu and Hideyoshi” (13:30–16:30) at Shizuoka City Aoi Lifelong Learning Center (I-Cel 21). Free, 200 seats, registration required: online priority from 10 October, by phone from 10:00 on 16 October. |
| Sun 8 Nov | Talk on Tokugawa Ieyasu and swords (13:30–14:30) |
| Sat 14 Nov | Talk on the history and treasures of Shizuoka Asama Shrine (13:30–14:30) |
| Sun 15 Nov | Curator-led tour of sites linked to Asahi-hime and Ieyasu, at 9:30–11:30 or 13:30–15:30. Free, 20 people per session, registration required (by phone from 10:00 on 18 October). Meet at Zuiryuji; the tour ends at Kiyomizudera. |
| Mon 23 Nov (holiday) | Talk on Ieyasu and Hideyoshi through the study of old documents (13:30–15:00) |
| Sat 28 Nov | Gallery talk (16:30) |
The exhibition catalogue costs ¥1,300 (A4, 72 pages) and is sold at the museum shop and online. I bought one. I also received the souvenir handed out to the first 100 visitors on 10 and 11 October, which is no longer available.
Photography is prohibited in the gallery except for items marked as permitted; check the notices inside. I photographed only items with that mark.
Frequently asked questions
I could. Some items, such as the seven-article ordinance, come with a printed transcription and a guide for children, and you can learn a lot from paper size, seal positions and things that came with a document, like the sword box or the wooden board. The labels I photographed were in Japanese, though, and the exhibition is document-heavy, so adjust your expectations if you hoped for many weapons.
The museum’s exhibit list PDF includes English titles, and the official tourism site has an English page for this exhibition. The museum’s free app supports English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. I have not confirmed how much of this exhibition the app covers in English, so do not count on English explanations for every item.
The official exhibit list says the itomaki-style mounting for No. 23 is shown only from Wednesday 4 November to Sunday 29 November. When I visited on 11 October, only the blade and tang were on view.
No. The exhibition-only ticket (¥600 for adults) covers the third-floor special exhibition. For the second-floor permanent exhibition as well, buy the combined ticket (¥1,200 for adults).
Sources
- My visit notes (11 October 2026) and my notes from the talk “Ieyasu and Hideyoshi in Shizuoka.” The talk is summarised in my own words.
- Shizuoka City History Museum, Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Toyotomi Regime (dates, prices, catalogue)
- Museum event list for the exhibition
- Museum exhibit list (PDF)
- Official ticket site (e-tix)
- Visit Shizuoka: exhibition page in English
- Komazawa University: commentary on Ietada’s diary and the Honnoji Incident (PDF, Japanese)
- National Archives of Japan: submission to Hideyoshi and Ietada’s diary (Japanese)
- Seikenji Temple: chronology (Japanese)
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