When the Nagasaki Customs Kuchinotsu Branch Office (opened in 1878) became too small, the building (which had been rebuilt in 1899) was sold by the government in 1980. Its interior was then renovated and transformed into the Kuchinotsu History & Folklore Museum the following year. As the only existing Western-style building from the Meiji era in Minamishimabara, the building has been designated as a cultural asset of Nagasaki Prefecture.
The Kuchinotsu History & Folklore Museum has been relocated to 2F of the new Kuchinotsu Terminal Building, which was completed in 2020, and some of its collection is displayed here as a branch of the museum.