Sakai City Museum

Sakai City Museum opened in 1980 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Sakai’s municipalization. Located within Daisen Park, the museum is in the center of the Mozu Kofun Group, a set of ancient mounded tombs including Nintoku-tenno-ryo Kofun, the biggest kofun in Japan.

The Mozu Kofun Group was registered as a World Heritage site in July 2019, which boosted Sakai’s image as the city of kofun, but the history of Sakai is far more diverse. The city once prospered as a city of international trade, where various goods were brought about from abroad and urban culture including tea ceremony blossomed developing the fertile history.

Sakai City Museum showcases the history and the culture of Sakai from the ancient to modern times, featuring artifacts such as haniwa clay figures excavated from archaeological sites in the city, matchlock guns produced in Sakai, colorful paintings of the festive rituals of shrines.