Akita Family's Documents

Documents that were handed down to the Akita family, which prospered in Tsugaru Tosaminato in Mutsu Province during the Kamakura period, later moved to Akita in Dewa Province and became a warlord, and in modern times became the feudal lord of Shishido in Hitachi Province with 50,000 koku and then Miharu in Mutsu Province with 55,000 koku. Most of the ancient documents are from the early modern period, and consist of draft poems and portraits showing the private side of the feudal lords' families, and Naisho (unofficial letters that were given out by shoguns), regulations, and memoranda showing the public side. The collection also includes classic books, pictures and vessels. Among these items, there are a genealogical table which shows an oral tradition of a unique self-understanding as a descendant of Sadatou Abeno, and bows which are said to be a trace of the fact that the Akita family was a feudal lord of Ezo.
It was in the summer of 1939 that most of the documents of the Akita Viscounts were deposited with the Faculty of Law and Literature of Tohoku Imperial University. The Faculty of Law and Literature at that time had the department of investigation on Ouu (Tohoku Provinces) historical materials, which studied the overall northern history from the Tohoku region to Hokkaido, Karafuto and Chishima Islands. The Akita archive was the best of historical materials that had been collected for comprehensive research studies. Later, among the deposited items, swords were returned with the opening of the Akita Prefectural Museum, and documents were purchased by Tohoku University and became national property. After 1955, the materials were transferred to the library, and in 2001, the " The Akita Archive Catalog (In Japanese)" was compiled.