A barrack block from the second bailey of Nagoya Castle
Meiji Village Sixth Infantry Regiment Barracks (明治村歩兵第六聯隊兵舎, Meijimura Hohei Dairoku Rentai Heisha) is a timber barrack block of 1873 standing in the Meiji Mura museum at Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, and it was entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 17 February 2004.
It was built inside Nagoya Castle, in the ninomaru or second bailey. Japan had set up a Ministry of Military Affairs in 1869 and was rebuilding its army along French lines. In 1871 four regional garrisons were established across the country, and Nagoya received a detached third camp of the Tokyo garrison. That camp was raised to full garrison status in 1873, and the Sixth Infantry Regiment was formed at the same time.
The regimental compound was laid out around a large parade ground with 10 company barrack blocks ranged around it. The building at Meiji Mura is one of those 10, the block that housed the tenth company.
As built it ran over 50 meters along its length. About two thirds of that was reconstructed when it was moved, giving the present building area of 389 square meters. It was dismantled in 1963 and re-erected at Meiji Mura in 1965. Almost nothing survives from the garrison years of the Japanese army as standing architecture, and Meiji Village Sixth Infantry Regiment Barracks is one of the few.
What is hidden inside the wall
The Agency for Cultural Affairs entry lists the reasons for registration: a 2-story timber building with a yosemune hipped roof, walls rendered in white shikkui plaster as a continuous surface with a string course running round them, broad sash windows, and porches whose slightly convex roofs rest on Tuscan columns. It calls the building a surviving example of garrison era barracks architecture.
From outside it looks plain, a white box with windows in rows. The wall section is where it gets interesting. Posts of 7 sun, roughly 21 centimeters square, run in one piece from the sill plate to the eaves. Over them the builders nailed lathing on the diagonal, then laid flat roof tiles across that as a backing, then finished the whole thing in white plaster. Aichi Prefecture's commentary rates the method as sound against earthquakes, against fire and against cold, all three at once.
The roof structure is careful too. The trusses span 4 ken, about 7.2 meters, and iron straps are used at points throughout them. What you are looking at is Japanese carpenters working from European building manuals with the materials and skills they had, and the answer they arrived at is in that wall and those trusses. Even the rafter ends at the eaves are plastered over, which is part of the same argument about fire.
The registration covers 1 building: 2-story timber, tile roofed, building area 389 square meters.
What to look at
Outside
Meiji Village Sixth Infantry Regiment Barracks has 4 entrances in total, front and back. The porch roofs are sheet metal with a gentle upward curve, carried on Tuscan columns that swell slightly at the middle rather than running straight. The doors are panelled, with a comb shaped ranma transom above them, which is more care than a military building strictly needed.
Broad sash windows fill both floors. They were not all there at the start. When the barracks was built it had roughly half the number of windows it has now, and the rest were added later to get more light into the rooms. Meiji Mura reconstructed the building in that later state because it suits the display conditions. Knowing that, it becomes a question worth carrying around the building: what were these rooms like when they were darker.
Inside
The interior includes a reconstructed squad room where soldiers slept, with wooden beds in place. The company commander's room and the non commissioned officers' room have been returned to their earlier appearance as well. The furniture was reportedly built for durability rather than appearance, and what stands in the rooms bears that out; there is very little on any of it that is not structural.
White plastered walls and wide windows make the rooms brighter than most people expect of an army building, and the ceilings are higher. Walking the length of it while holding the original figure of over 50 meters in mind gives some sense of the scale of the compound when 10 of these blocks stood around the parade ground.
Visiting Meiji Village Sixth Infantry Regiment Barracks
The building stands at plot 36 in the district Meiji Mura calls 4-chōme, and museum admission covers it with no separate charge. You can go inside. Parts are sometimes closed off for safety or repairs, so follow the notices posted on the day.
Admission is 2500 yen for adults, 1500 yen for high school students, and 700 yen for junior high and elementary school students. Preschool children enter free (checked September 2026). Parties of 20 or more pay a group rate, and an annual pass is sold.
Opening hours move with the seasons. March, April through July, September and October: 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. August: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. November: 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., extended to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays and public holidays. December through February: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing. Closed days come in blocks in summer and winter rather than on a fixed weekday, so check the museum calendar before travelling.
Personal photography needs no permission. Tripods are not allowed inside buildings and shooting from within the wooded slopes is prohibited. The building is long, so getting the whole front elevation into one frame means backing well away from it.
Getting there: a Gifu Bus service runs from the east exit of Meitetsu Inuyama Station to Meiji Mura, and Meitetsu operates direct coaches from Nagoya Station and Sakae. By car it is 3 kilometers from the Komaki-Higashi interchange on the Chūō Expressway, with parking outside the north gate at 1000 yen for a standard vehicle. 4-chōme sits well back from the main gate, so take the village bus or plan a route in from the north side.
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Q&A
- Can you visit Meiji Village Sixth Infantry Regiment Barracks, and what does it cost?
- Yes. It stands inside the Meiji Mura open air museum and admission covers it, with no charge for the individual building. Admission is 2500 yen for adults, 1500 yen for high school students, and 700 yen for junior high and elementary school students. Hours run roughly 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in spring and autumn and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in winter, with last entry 30 minutes before closing.
- Where did Meiji Village Sixth Infantry Regiment Barracks originally stand?
- In the second bailey of Nagoya Castle. It was one of the company barrack blocks put up when Nagoya was raised to garrison status in 1873 and the Sixth Infantry Regiment was formed, and it housed the tenth company. It was dismantled in 1963 and moved to Meiji Mura in Inuyama in 1965.
- Is Meiji Village Sixth Infantry Regiment Barracks the same size as when it was built?
- No. Inside Nagoya Castle it ran over 50 meters along its length, and about two thirds of that was reconstructed at the museum. The present building area is 389 square meters. The window count also changed: the building now has roughly twice as many windows as it had originally, and Meiji Mura reconstructed it in that later state.
- What is on display inside Meiji Village Sixth Infantry Regiment Barracks?
- A reconstructed squad room with the wooden beds the soldiers slept in, together with the company commander's room and the non commissioned officers' room restored to their earlier appearance. The furniture was made for durability rather than looks, and the plainness of it is easy to see.
- How were the outer walls of Meiji Village Sixth Infantry Regiment Barracks built?
- Posts of 7 sun, about 21 centimeters square, run unbroken from sill to eaves. Lathing was nailed across them diagonally, flat roof tiles were laid over that as a backing, and the surface was finished in white lime plaster. Aichi Prefecture rates the method as effective against earthquakes, fire and cold. The rafter ends are plastered over as well.
Basic Information
| Name | Meiji Village Sixth Infantry Regiment Barracks |
|---|---|
| Location | Meiji Mura, 1 Uchiyama, Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2004 (Heisei 16) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 2-story timber structure, tile roof, building area 389 square meters |
| Owner | Meiji Mura Public Interest Foundation |
| Public Access | Open to the public, covered by Meiji Mura admission, interior accessible |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Meijimura Hohei Dairoku Rentai Heisha
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003860
- Cultural Heritage Online: Meijimura Hohei Dairoku Rentai Heisha
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/188590
- Aichi Prefecture, Cultural Property Navi Aichi: Meijimura Hohei Dairoku Rentai Heisha
- https://jmapps.ne.jp/aichi_bunkazai/det.html?data_id=1906
- Meiji Mura Museum: Sixth Infantry Regiment Barracks
- https://www.meijimura.com/sight/sixth-infantry-regiment-barracks/
- Meiji Mura Museum: Admission charges
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/price/
- Meiji Mura Museum: Opening calendar
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/open/
- Meiji Mura Museum: Access
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/access/
Last verified: 2026.09.03