From Division Headquarters to University Main Building
The Former Main Building of Aichi University (Former Imperial Japanese Army 15th Division Headquarters), known in Japanese as 愛知大学旧本館 (Aichi Daigaku Kyū-Honkan), is a two-storey wooden building completed in August 1908 at 1-1 Machihata-cho, Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, and it was entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 16 January 1998. It stands on the Toyohashi campus of Aichi University and is open to the public as the Aichi University Memorial Hall.
The army built it as the headquarters of its 15th Division. When the division was abolished in the Ugaki arms reductions of 1925, the building did not empty out. The headquarters of the 4th Cavalry Brigade moved in, and later the Army Instructional School and the Army Reserve Officers' School used it as their administrative centre.
Its second career began in 1946. Homma Kiichi, who had been president of Tōa Dōbun Shoin University in Shanghai, founded Aichi University on the former army site, and this building served as the university's main building for fifty years, until 1996. Two years after the university moved its administration out, the building was registered, renamed the Memorial Hall, and given over to exhibitions.
Why the Building Is on the National Register
Registration was granted under the criterion for buildings that serve as a model in design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs record singles out a quality that visitors often walk past: the building is deliberately plain. Boarded walls, almost no ornament, tall double-hung windows spaced at even intervals. The Agency reads this evenness as evidence of standardisation, and describes the building as a clear demonstration of how the army handled barracks and headquarters architecture at the end of the Meiji era.
Its registration number is 23-0009, which places the Former Main Building of Aichi University among the earlier structures listed in Aichi Prefecture. Registration is a lighter form of protection than designation as an Important Cultural Property, and it was created with exactly this kind of building in mind: large, everyday, still in use, and too recent to have been treated as a monument.
The design has a second interest that the plainness tends to hide. In 1908 a wooden building of 1,859 square metres was a substantial undertaking, and Aichi University describes it as the first full-scale Western-style building in Toyohashi.
What to Look for on the South Front
Stand back from the entrance before going in. The plan of the Former Main Building of Aichi University is a squared U: a long main range running east to west, with a wing projecting to the rear from each end. Until the present university main building went up, a single-storey timber annexe stood behind the centre of the main range and behind each wing, linked to the headquarters by covered corridors. Those annexes are gone, so the U now reads more cleanly than it did in 1908.
The porch projects from the centre of the south front. There is a pediment over the doorway and a second pediment above the porch itself, and these two triangles are close to the only decorative gestures on the entire exterior. The walls are German lap siding painted white. The roof is covered with sangawara pantiles and carried on wooden trusses. Brickwork appears only as a continuous strip footing around the perimeter.
Then look at the wall beside the entrance and at the corners of the building, where the surface thickens and steps forward. Those are buttresses, inserted during repair work in 1982. They are not part of the 1908 design, and the Former Main Building of Aichi University wears them openly rather than disguising them.
Inside, the staircase to the first floor has kept its early character. The room facing you at the top was the division commander's office, and after the war it became the office of the university president. The ground floor now holds displays on the university and on Tōa Dōbun Shoin, its predecessor institution in Shanghai.
Visiting
Admission is free and no reservation is needed. The Memorial Hall opens Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 16:00, and closes on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, the university's foundation day and other days the university sets as holidays. Groups are asked to make contact in advance, on 0532-47-4139.
An audio guide covering part of the displays is available in Japanese, English and Chinese, and units can be borrowed free of charge at the office on the ground floor. The university's website does not state a photography policy for the interior, so ask at the office before taking pictures indoors.
Getting there is simple. From Toyohashi Station, walk to the adjoining Shin-Toyohashi Station and take the Toyohashi Railroad Atsumi Line about five minutes to Aichi Daigaku-mae Station, which sits next to the campus. Remember that this is a working university, so keep to the paths and to the building itself.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the Former Main Building of Aichi University, and what are the hours and the admission fee?
- Yes. The building operates as the Aichi University Memorial Hall and is open to anyone, Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 16:00, with no admission charge and no reservation required. It is closed on weekends, public holidays and university holidays. Groups should telephone 0532-47-4139 beforehand.
- How do I reach the Former Main Building of Aichi University from Toyohashi Station?
- Transfer at Shin-Toyohashi Station, next to Toyohashi Station, to the Toyohashi Railroad Atsumi Line. Aichi Daigaku-mae Station is about five minutes away and stands immediately beside the campus, so the building is a short walk from the platform.
- Why is the Former Main Building of Aichi University registered rather than designated as an Important Cultural Property?
- Japan runs two separate systems. Designation applies to a small number of outstanding items, while registration was created for buildings roughly fifty years old or more that remain in daily use. This building was registered in 1998 under the criterion for structures that serve as a model in design.
- What was the Former Main Building of Aichi University used for before the university existed?
- It was built in 1908 as the headquarters of the army's 15th Division. After the division was disbanded in 1925 the building housed the 4th Cavalry Brigade headquarters, then the Army Instructional School and the Army Reserve Officers' School. Aichi University took over the site in 1946.
- May I take photographs at the Former Main Building of Aichi University?
- The exterior can be photographed from the surrounding campus paths. For the exhibition rooms the university publishes no photography rules, so check at the ground-floor office first. Please avoid photographing students and staff going about their work.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Main Building of Aichi University (Former Imperial Japanese Army 15th Division Headquarters) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-1 Machihata-cho, Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), registration number 23-0009 |
| Year Designated | Registered in 1998 (Heisei 10) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 1,859 square metres, 2 storeys, timber frame, tiled roof |
| Owner | Aichi University Educational Corporation |
| Public Access | Open as the Aichi University Memorial Hall, Monday to Friday 10:00 to 16:00, admission free |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs - Former Main Building of Aichi University (Former Imperial Japanese Army 15th Division Headquarters)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00000435
- Bunkazai Navi Aichi, Aichi Prefectural Board of Education - Former Main Building of Aichi University
- https://jmapps.ne.jp/aichi_bunkazai/det.html?data_id=1821
- Aichi University Memorial Hall - History of the Memorial Hall
- https://edu.aichi-u.ac.jp/toa/about.html
- Aichi University Memorial Hall - Visitor Information
- https://edu.aichi-u.ac.jp/toa/guide.html
Last verified: 2026.08.30