The drawing room, also known as the omote-zashiki, is a room for welcoming guests.

It was mainly used to host important figures in the domain and other honored guests. This was also the same room where Naosuke first met Nagano Shuzen, a classical scholar who would eventually vow his loyalty to and serve Naosuke. They even spent three days and three nights debating in this very room.

The folding screen is decorated with an illustration by a resident artist of Hikone Domain named Nakajima Tatsuhiro.

The tableware in the display case before you was used to serve guests. In the back, there is a traditional hibachi, as well as a kotō ware flower pot.

The tableware in the left display case was used by Naosuke.
The colored woodblock print in the upper right area depicts the transfer of the capital to Edo, where Hikone Domain provided warriors to protect and escort the emperor to Edo Castle.

Ōkubo Kozen was also a part of this march to Edo as a captain.
In the upper left, there is a traditional Japanese beam known as a nageshi. Above it is framed text that reads, “Loyalty moves people.”

After the Meiji Restoration, the revolutionary government feared that the samurai would revolt, and they demolished castles all over Japan. The demolition of Hikone Castle had also begun, so Ōkubo Kozen spent every morning visiting the Tokyo residence of Hijikata Hisamoto, who was Minister of Home Affairs. There, he would plead with his head lowered to the ground for Hikone Castle to be preserved. Thanks to his efforts, Hisamoto made an exception for Hikone Castle and heard this request. The emperor was going to visit Lake Biwa, which Hisamoto used as an opportunity to request Ōkuma Shigenobu’s permission to inspect Hikone Castle, which led to the preservation of the castle.

Following the successful preservation of Hikone Castle, Hijikata Hisamoto praised Ōkubo Kozen’s loyalty to both the Ii clan and Hikone Domain. This was when he gifted Kozen the framed words that he’d written himself, “Loyalty moves people.”