Moriya Hisashi Collection: Historical documents

revealing the Japan and world of old

The Moriya Hisashi Collection is one of the leading collections in Japan, having been assembled and organized over many years by Hisashi Moriya. The historical documents in this collection are primarily associated with Japanese and Western map development from the 16th to 19th centuries, as well as the cultural exchange between Japan and other countries during the same period, with a key emphasis on early-modern and modern Tomo, Fukuyama City and Hiroshima Prefecture-related materials. The collection also contains a wealth of materials from Siebold, Perry, the Joseon mission emissaries and others which shed light on Japan’s international cultural exchanges in the early-modern period. Central among these are the numerous old, historical maps belonging to the collection, including 158 antique maps and illustrations produced in the West and elsewhere and 293 antique maps and illustrations produced in Japan. This collection of antique maps is among the largest assembled by a private collector in Japan, and, through these maps and illustrations, we are afforded a window on the history of map-making from the 15th to 19th centuries. In 2020, this collection was donated to the Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History.

Moriya Hisashi Collection; images provided by the Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History

“Saigoku Meishonouchi Bingo Tomotsuso” (Famous places in western Japan: Tomotsu in Bingo)

Gountei Sadahide (1807-1873) Wood-block print / 1865

“Shokoku Rokujuhachi-kei Bingo Tomotsu” (Sixty-eight views of the country: Tomotsu in Bingo)

Utagawa Hiroshige Wood-block print / 1862

World Map / Munster S. (1540-1548) TYPVS VNIVERSALIS / Munster. Sebastian