A Kyoto Church That Now Stands in Inuyama
The former Kyoto St John's Church of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (旧日本聖公会京都聖約翰教会堂, also written Kyū Nippon Seikōkai Kyōto Sei Yohane Kyōkaidō, and known at Meiji Mura simply as Sei Yohane Kyōkaidō) is an Anglican church building of Meiji 40 (1907) that now stands at Uchiyama, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on 29 May 1965. It was built as the Kyoto Gojō church of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican Communion in Japan, and moved to the open-air Museum Meiji-Mura in 1964.
Its original address was Kawaramachi-dōri Gojō in Shimogyō Ward, Kyoto. Anyone who knows that intersection will find the relocation hard to picture. Kawaramachi is Kyoto's busiest commercial spine. The church stood there for fifty-six years, was dismantled in Shōwa 38 (1963), and was reassembled on a wooded rise in Inuyama the following year. The designation came a year after the move.
That sequence, dismantle then designate, tells you something about the period. Japan's postwar growth was demolishing Meiji-era buildings faster than anyone could record them. The architect Taniguchi Yoshirō and Doikawa Motoo, then president of the Meitetsu railway company and Taniguchi's schoolmate, founded Meiji Mura to collect what could be saved. The museum opened in Shōwa 40 (1965) and this church was one of its foundation exhibits, prominent enough to appear on the pre-opening posters.
Gardiner and the Terms of the Design
The designer was James McDonald Gardiner, an American who studied architecture at Harvard and arrived in Japan in Meiji 13 (1880) to serve as principal of Rikkyō Gakkō, the school that became Rikkyo University. He worked as an architect throughout his missionary career, leaving the Rikkyō school buildings, the Hepburn Hall at Meiji Gakuin, and the Nikkō Shinkō Church among others.
Brick Below, Timber Above
The building is two storeys with a brick ground floor and a timber upper floor, roofed in copper sheet, with a building area of 206.7 square metres. The upper floor held the worship hall; the ground floor was used for Sunday school and a kindergarten.
The material split is the point. Gardiner had been in Japan long enough to know what earthquakes do to masonry, and he kept the brick low and the structure above it light, with a metal roof rather than tile. A church of this size built entirely in brick would have been the more conventional choice for a foreign architect in 1907. He did not make it.
Romanesque Frame, Gothic Detail
The exterior takes medieval European Romanesque as its base and admits Gothic detail at the smaller scale. Two tall spires flank the front, and behind them a cruciform roof covers the hall. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the building simply as Gothic; Meiji Mura's own account describes a Romanesque frame with Gothic elements. Standing in front of it, both readings make sense, and the second is the more precise.
The pointed arches are where the Gothic shows. The main entrance is the one to examine: brick piers rise, a moulded capital intervenes, and a brick arch springs cleanly from it. In the transom above, two trefoil-arched windows sit in the wall, and the plank doors carry oversized medieval-style ironwork.
Inside the Hall
The Roof Structure Is the Ceiling
Climb the stairs to the upper floor and the plan is a cross. The roof structure is left exposed, with no ceiling boarding to conceal it. Arched braces combine with iron rods in a truss arrangement that has no obvious precedent, and the members are thin enough that the room reads as larger than it measures.
Then look up further. The ceiling surfaces are laid with bamboo blinds. The usual explanation is that Gardiner chose them to suit the Kyoto climate, and whatever the reason, the effect is unmistakable: the split bamboo catches daylight and throws it back into the room, and the interior feels open rather than solemn. It is a material no European church would use and no Japanese temple would use in that position either.
The Tracery Windows
Large pointed-arch windows fill the front gable and both gable ends of the transept, their tracery drawing patterns against the light. The present glass is not entirely original. The Muroto Typhoon of Shōwa 9 (1934) struck while the church still stood in Kyoto and broke the tracery stained glass. It was restored during conservation work carried out in Heisei 10 and 11 (1998 to 1999).
Planning a Visit
The church stands at 1-chōme 6-banchi within Meiji Mura, near the southern end of the grounds and set apart from its neighbours in a stand of trees. Autumn colour around it is worth the walk. Interiors are open to visitors during normal museum hours and you remove your shoes at the entrance before going up to the hall.
Admission to Meiji Mura is 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students, and 700 yen for elementary and junior high school students, with preschool children free. Opening hours change with the season, generally 9:30 to 17:00 in spring and autumn and 10:00 to 16:00 in the coldest months, so check the official schedule before setting out.
From Meitetsu Inuyama Station, take the Gifu Bus Meiji-mura line from the east exit; the ride is about twenty minutes and the stop is at the gate. Direct buses also run from the Meitetsu Bus Center at Nagoya Station and from Sakae. The grounds are large and hilly, and a village bus circulates roughly every twenty minutes, which is worth using if you plan to see several buildings.
Three other Meiji-period Christian buildings stand in the museum: the Daimyōji St Paul's Church from the Gotō Islands, St Francis Xavier's Cathedral also from Kyoto, and the Seattle Nikkei Gospel Church. Seeing them together is the quickest way to grasp how differently the same faith was housed in the same decades. The church is also let out for weddings, so you may find a ceremony in progress.
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Q&A
- Where is the former Kyoto St John's Church now, and why was it moved?
- It stands in Museum Meiji-Mura at Uchiyama, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, having been dismantled in 1963 at its original site on Kawaramachi-dōri Gojō in Shimogyō Ward, Kyoto, and rebuilt at the museum in 1964. The relocation was part of the museum's founding effort to save Meiji buildings from demolition during the postwar growth years.
- Can I go inside the former Kyoto St John's Church at Meiji Mura?
- Yes. The interior is open during normal museum opening hours, and visitors remove their shoes at the entrance before climbing to the upper-floor worship hall. The building is also used for weddings, so a ceremony may occasionally be in progress.
- Who designed the former Kyoto St John's Church?
- James McDonald Gardiner, an American who studied architecture at Harvard, came to Japan in 1880 and served as principal of Rikkyō Gakkō. His other surviving works include the Hepburn Hall at Meiji Gakuin and the Nikkō Shinkō Church.
- What is the ceiling of the former Kyoto St John's Church made of?
- Bamboo blinds, said to have been chosen to suit the Kyoto climate. The split bamboo reflects daylight into the cruciform hall, and combined with the exposed roof structure and its slender arched braces and iron rods, it makes the interior feel wider than its dimensions.
- How much does it cost to visit the former Kyoto St John's Church, and how do I get there?
- Entry is through Meiji Mura, which charges 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students and 700 yen for elementary and junior high students, with preschool children free. Take the Gifu Bus Meiji-mura line from the east exit of Meitetsu Inuyama Station, about twenty minutes, or a direct bus from Nagoya Station or Sakae.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kyoto St John's Church of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (旧日本聖公会京都聖約翰教会堂) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1 Ōaza Uchiyama, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture (Museum Meiji-Mura, 1-chōme 6-banchi). Originally Kawaramachi-dōri Gojō, Shimogyō Ward, Kyoto |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (Buildings), designation no. 01599. Category: modern period, religious |
| Year Designated | 29 May 1965 (Shōwa 40) |
| Quantity | 1 building, with construction-related documents as attached items |
| Dimensions | Brick and timber, two storeys, copper sheet roof, building area 206.7 square metres |
| Owner | Museum Meiji-Mura Foundation |
| Public Access | Open to visitors within Museum Meiji-Mura. Museum admission 2,500 yen adults, 1,500 yen high school students, 700 yen elementary and junior high students, preschool free. Hours vary seasonally, broadly 9:30 to 17:00 in spring and autumn and 10:00 to 16:00 in winter |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Former Kyoto St John's Church of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/1243
- Museum Meiji-Mura: St John's Church
- https://www.meijimura.com/sight/%E8%81%96%E3%83%A8%E3%83%8F%E3%83%8D%E6%95%99%E4%BC%9A%E5%A0%82/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Tickets and Prices
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/price/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Access
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/access/
Last verified: 2026.08.29