Kumaya Art Museum

The Masuda from Masuda in Iwami Province lived here, but it is also believed to have been a secret spy location with a tower used to monitor who entered and exited the castle town.

The Kubota family were kimono merchants who moved to Hagi from Omi Province (present-day Shiga). Subsequent generations abandoned kimono-making to start a sake brewery.

A sake brewer and local arms dealer, he traveled in secret to Nagasaki to procure 1000 Chinese guns for the Choshu Domain, which helped them win the Boshin War and eventually bring down the Tokugawa shogunate.

The Kikuya merchant family lived in style, with a large house and a lovely garden. Today, their house is open to the public with over 5,000 period items on display, from dolls to a vintage phone booth.

A student of Shoin Yoshida at the local Meirinkan, later in life, at the behest of mentor Sakamoto Ryoma, Kido Takayoshi (1833 – 1877) joined Takamori Saigo and Toshimichi Okubo to form the new government during the Meiji Restoration and establish the Five Charter Oath, which abolished the provinces and created the modern prefectures.

A signboard marks the location of the former Prime Minister's birthhome. Nothing remains of the house, but those interested in the man should visit the Tanaka Villa further south in the Hiyako area.