Tenkoku Art Museum
It is Japan's first museum specializing in seal engraving, and is housed in a renovated three-story stone storehouse built in 1920 (Taisho 9) facing Ishimachi Street in the old castle town. Its exhibition rooms also retain the atmosphere of the time.
Seal engraving is one of the arts of calligraphy, which originated in China about 700 years ago.
Words and phrases from the Four Books, Five Classics, and Chinese poetry are selected and engraved on soft stone using ancient characters called seal script, and then stamped on paper, in order to be appreciated.
The museum has a permanent exhibition of the works of the late Ikui Shika, a native of Koga, as well as luting and stone seal materials related to seal engraving.
This building is a national registered tangible cultural property.
*A seal-engraving workshop is held.
