The smallest listed building at Meiji-Mura
The Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory is a timber lavatory block of 1890 preserved at Museum Meiji-Mura in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, and it was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2004.
Its footprint is 10 square meters. That is the entire building: one low room under a hipped roof of pantiles, put up at Hiroo in Shibuya, Tokyo, for the Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital (日本赤十字社中央病院) and joined to the far end of one of the hospital's timber wards.
The drawings came from Katayama Tōkuma (片山東熊), an engineer of the Ministry of the Imperial Household who would later build the Akasaka Detached Palace. Nothing about a sanitary annexe obliged him to spend design effort on it. The building shows that he did.
The hospital was pulled down in 1973 when the site was redeveloped. The ward it served went to Inuyama, and the lavatory travelled with it, going up again in 1974 in the same relationship to the ward that it had held in Tokyo.
Why a lavatory block carries a listing of its own
Registration was granted on 17 February 2004 under number 23-0093, one digit after the ward at 23-0092, on the criterion that the building is a model of design. The Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory holds its listing as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, a status conferred by registration rather than by designation.
Detaching the sanitary rooms into a separate block was a decision about air. Pavilion planning kept the wards apart and strung them together with corridors, following the sanitary reasoning of the period, and the fittings were pushed to the end of the run and given a roof and a vent of their own. The little gabled turret perched on the ridge is that system made visible from outside.
The reasoning was practical. What earns the listing is that the practicality was never allowed to read as neglect. Set the two buildings side by side and the differences are deliberate: the ward stands on a high brick plinth, while this block rests on dressed stone. Both are boarded in German siding with flat post-shapes applied over it for a half-timbered effect, yet only the smaller building carries a chevron pattern cut into the frieze.
Details worth stopping for
The roof does two things at once. The main slope is hipped and tiled; on the ridge sits a ventilation turret with a gabled roof of its own, a pitched form set on a hipped one. From any distance that silhouette is what identifies the Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory.
The windows are sorted by side. Double-hung sashes go on the gable ends, sliding lights along the flanks. Once you notice the rule, the same discipline turns up everywhere on the building.
Then look under the eaves. A chevron band is cut into the frieze, shallow and repeated, scaled to a wall that has almost no surface to give. At three paces it is easy to miss. At one pace it is the reason a court architect's name is attached to a lavatory.
Read it together with the ward next door. Walk the ward's long glazed corridor to its end, and this is what the corridor was walking towards.
Visiting
The Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory stands at plot 35 in District 4, attached to the ward, on a hilly museum site beside Iruka Pond. Five numbered districts run across the village, the main gate at District 1 and the north gate at District 5, which makes the north gate the shorter approach.
Inuyama Station on the Meitetsu network is the nearest railway station; Gifu Bus runs its Meiji-mura service from the east exit and takes about 20 minutes, and highway coaches connect Nagoya Station and Sakae. Drivers come 3 km from the Komaki-higashi interchange on the Chūō Expressway, with parking at 1,000 yen for a standard car.
Village admission covers the building: 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students and 700 yen for junior high and elementary school pupils, free for preschool children. Hours are usually 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in spring and autumn and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in winter, last admission 30 minutes before closing, with closed days set irregularly and posted on the museum calendar.
This is a preserved structure on display rather than a facility in service, and the museum restricts entry to some buildings and to some rooms within them for safety. Check the notices on site. Photography for personal use needs no application, though tripods and monopods cannot be used inside the buildings.
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Q&A
- What is the Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory?
- A timber lavatory block of 10 square meters, built in 1890 for the Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital at Hiroo in Tokyo and attached to the end of one of its wards. It moved to Museum Meiji-Mura in 1974 together with that ward and went on the national register in 2004.
- Can you go inside the Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory?
- The building is kept as an exhibit rather than as a working facility, and Museum Meiji-Mura restricts entry to some buildings and to parts of buildings for safety, so check the notices on the day. The exterior can be approached closely from the end of the ward, which is where the detailing repays attention in any case.
- How does the Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory differ from the ward beside it?
- Foundation and frieze, mainly. The ward rises on a high brick plinth; this block sits on dressed stone. Both wear German siding with applied post-shapes, but only the lavatory has a chevron band cut into the frieze, and only the lavatory carries a gable-roofed ventilation turret on its hipped roof.
- Who designed the Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory?
- Katayama Tōkuma, an engineer of the Ministry of the Imperial Household whose later work included the Akasaka Detached Palace. He was responsible for the Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital completed at Hiroo in 1890, this small block included.
- Where is the Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory and what does it cost to see?
- Plot 35 in District 4 of Museum Meiji-Mura, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture. Village admission covers it at 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students and 700 yen for junior high and elementary school pupils. Inuyama Station is roughly 20 minutes away by Gifu Bus from the east exit.
Basic Information
| Name | Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory (明治村日本赤十字社中央病院付属便所) |
|---|---|
| Location | Uchiyama 1, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture (Museum Meiji-Mura, District 4, plot 35) |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2004 (Heisei 16) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-story timber construction, tiled roof, building area 10 square meters |
| Owner | Meiji Mura Public Interest Foundation |
| Public Access | Displayed as an exhibit building of Museum Meiji-Mura, viewable from outside; village admission ticket required |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Database of Designated Cultural Properties: Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003859
- Cultural Heritage Online: Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Attached Lavatory
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/194859
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Database of Designated Cultural Properties: Meiji-Mura Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Ward
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003858
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Japanese Red Cross Central Hospital Ward
- https://www.meijimura.com/sight/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%B5%A4%E5%8D%81%E5%AD%97%E7%A4%BE%E4%B8%AD%E5%A4%AE%E7%97%85%E9%99%A2%E7%97%85%E6%A3%9F/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Opening hours and closed days
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/open/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Tickets and prices
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/price/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Access
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/access/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Photography in the village
- https://www.meijimura.com/photography/
Last verified: 2026.09.03