opened in Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, in 1959 as the country's first dedicated modern archival institution. History In Shōwa 27 (1952), the Mōri family, former daimyō of Chōshū Domain, deposited its domainal documents with Yamaguchi Prefecture, whereupon they were stored, alongside materials gathered by the pre-war Prefectural History Compilation Office, at . These items were transferred in with the opening of Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives in 1959; donations and deposits - including materials from the Tokuyama Domain Mōri family - have continued since. Holdings The archives holds approximately 530,000 documents, roughly divided into five groups: Domain documents, including: Administrative documents, from the Meiji era onwards Administrative materials, from the Meiji era onwards Publications, photographs, films, audio recordings, etc. Family documents, including: Corporation, foundation, and family documents, including those of Edo period samurai houses Special library Textbooks, newspapers, etc. Cultural Properties The holdings include seven Important Cultural Properties, two Prefectural Cultural Properties, and three Municipal Tangible Cultural Properties. Important Cultural Properties : 121 items, dating from the Kamakura period to the Edo period, together with a map of the Nagato Province Masayoshi Irie Salt Fields : 255 documents mounted as 13 scrolls, dating from the Kamakura period to the Edo period : 117 items, dating from 1351–1643, together with a Japan-Ming trade ship flag of Wanli 12 (1584) : 59 woodblocks of the Muromachi period : 199 items from the sixteenth century, together with a flag pass of Tenshō 9 (1581) : 13,549 items, dating from the Edo period to the Shōwa era : 6 construction records and 5 plans, from the Taishō era Prefectural Cultural Properties : 754 items, including a portrait inscribed by Yoshida in the fifth month of Ansei 6 (1859), and his zeppitsu or final writing (Tangible Cultural Property) : 1,011 documents (Tangible Folk Cultural Property) From the archives See also List of archives in Japan Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum List of Historic Sites of Japan (Yamaguchi) Cultural Property (Japan) References External links Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives Archives in Japan Yamaguchi (city) History of Yamaguchi Prefecture 1959 establishments in Japan