The Former Shuseikan Machinery Factory was built in 1865 by Shimazu Tadayoshi, the 29th head of the Shimazu family. It is known as the oldest surviving Western-style stone factory building in Japan.

In 1962, it was designated an Important Cultural Property, and in 2015, it was registered as part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution.”

The building is made of welded tuff stone and was originally known as the Stone Home. While it has a Western appearance, it also includes many Japanese architectural features, such as stonework used in castle construction and a roof design that blends Western truss ideas with local techniques.

Inside, Western machinery was installed, and the factory produced metalworking equipment and components for the maintenance of Western-style ships.

The factory closed in 1915, but the building was preserved. In 1923, it reopened as the Shoko Shuseikan Museum. Shoko means to cherish the past, and today the museum presents over 800 years of Shimazu family history, beginning in the Kamakura Period.