The Wing That Brought Tatami into a Settlement House
Meiji Village Nagasaki Foreign Settlement No. 25 Annex (明治村長崎居留地二十五番館別館) is a single-storey timber building of 1910 standing in Museum Meiji-Mura in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, and it was placed on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2003.
It was added to the rear right of an existing house on plot 25 of Minamiyamate, the hillside quarter of the Nagasaki foreign settlement. The main house had gone up in 1889. Roughly two decades later a different master carpenter was brought in to extend it, and the result is a building that shares a silhouette with its neighbour and almost nothing of its interior logic.
From outside, the annex keeps up appearances. The walls are finished in Shitami-itabari with pilaster-like posts expressed on the face, the roof follows Yosemune-zukuri form under Sangawara-buki tiles, and the whole thing was deliberately matched to the older house so that the compound would read as one property. The floor area is 120 square meters, set on a foundation of cut stone.
Step inside and the pretence drops. There is a Western room at the centre, and on either side of it are two Japanese rooms with alcove fittings.
Why the Annex Is on the National Register
Meiji Village Nagasaki Foreign Settlement No. 25 Annex was entered on the register on 1 December 2003, under the criterion for buildings that set a standard of design, with the register number 23-0086. It was recorded separately from the main house, which carries its own number, although the two were moved from Nagasaki together in 1966 and stand as one group at the museum. The Registered Tangible Cultural Property entry covers this single building.
The interest of the annex lies in what happened to settlement housing after its first generation. Japan's foreign settlements were abolished in 1899, and by the time this wing went up in 1910 a house on the Minamiyamate slope could be extended with rooms meant for sitting on tatami and a Tokonoma to sit beside. The exterior still speaks the language of the treaty port. The plan behind it has switched to a domestic Japanese one.
What to Look At
A corridor that cannot decide if it is indoors
The most unusual feature of the No. 25 Annex runs on three sides of the central Western room. It is a corridor, and by the ordinary rules of Japanese planning it should be a passage between inside and outside. Here the treatment is reversed. On the outer wall the openings are sliding windows, which closes the corridor off from the weather. On the inner wall, the one shared with the Western room, the carpenter fitted double-leaf doors and sash windows, the fittings an exterior wall would get.
The effect is that the Western room behaves as though it still faces open air, and the corridor becomes a half-outdoor belt wrapped around it. Stand in that corridor and look through the sash windows into the room. You are inside the building and outside the room at the same time.
The alcove and its writing bay
The Japanese rooms carry a proper alcove with a tsukeshoin, the shallow writing bay built out under a window beside the tokonoma. A Zashiki with an Engawa attached sits on the other side. None of this equipment appears in the main house, and none of it would have made sense to the first residents of the settlement.
The roof edge in plaster
White ridges of Shikkui plaster run along the joints of the roof tiles. On the annex the treatment is confined to the perimeter of the roof surface rather than covering the whole slope as it does on the main roof next door. The original purpose was to stop wind from lifting tiles, a method common in Kyushu and Okinawa; here it also draws a pale line around the edge of the roof.
Visiting the Annex
Meiji Village Nagasaki Foreign Settlement No. 25 Annex stands in the 3-chome district of the museum grounds, at plot 31, joined to the rear of the main house on a rise looking down at Lake Iruka. One museum ticket covers the whole site, and visitors can go inside during opening hours, though rooms and passages are sometimes closed for safety or repair work.
Admission for adults is 2,500 yen, 1,500 yen for high school students and 700 yen for junior high and elementary school students; preschool children enter free. Opening hours are 9:30 to 17:00 from April to July and in September, October and March, 10:00 to 17:00 in August, 9:30 to 16:00 on November weekdays, and 10:00 to 16:00 from December to February. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing, and closing days fall on scattered weekdays through the year.
Photography for personal use needs no application. Tripods and monopods are not allowed inside buildings, near entrances or in narrow passages, and commercial shoots must be arranged with the museum in advance.
Buses to Meiji-Mura leave from the east exit of Meitetsu Inuyama Station and take about 20 minutes. Drivers come 3 kilometres from the Komaki-higashi interchange on the Chuo Expressway; parking is 1,000 yen for a standard car. The grounds are steep in places, so give yourself longer than the distances suggest.
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Q&A
- What is the difference between the Nagasaki Foreign Settlement No. 25 Annex and the main house?
- The main house was built in 1889 and is a Western-style residence throughout, with verandas and fireplaces. The annex went up in 1910 under a different master carpenter and combines a central Western room with two Japanese rooms, including an alcove and a writing bay. Its exterior was matched to the older house on purpose.
- Can visitors go inside Meiji Village Nagasaki Foreign Settlement No. 25 Annex?
- Yes, during museum opening hours, and the interior is the point of the building. Some areas are closed off for safety or during repairs, and the museum runs timed guided openings of parts that are normally shut.
- When was the No. 25 Annex moved to Museum Meiji-Mura?
- In 1966, together with the main house. Both had stood on plot 25 of Minamiyamate in Nagasaki City. The museum site was chosen to echo the original slope above Nagasaki Bay, which is why the buildings look down over Lake Iruka here.
- Is there a separate charge to see the No. 25 Annex?
- No. Museum admission covers every building on the grounds: 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students and 700 yen for junior high and elementary school students.
- Can I photograph the interior of Meiji Village Nagasaki Foreign Settlement No. 25 Annex?
- Personal photography is allowed without permission. Tripods, monopods, reflectors and step stools may not be used inside the building or near its entrance, and photography intended for advertising or sale requires an application filed ahead of the visit.
Basic Information
| Name | Meiji Village Nagasaki Foreign Settlement No. 25 Annex |
|---|---|
| Location | Museum Meiji-Mura, 1 Uchiyama, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2003 (Heisei 15) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single storey, tiled roof, floor area 120 square meters |
| Owner | Meiji Mura Public Interest Foundation |
| Public Access | Open to museum visitors during opening hours; some areas restricted |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Meiji Village Nagasaki Foreign Settlement No. 25 Annex
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003673
- Cultural Heritage Online, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Meiji Village Nagasaki Foreign Settlement No. 25 Annex
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/183583
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Nagasaki Foreign Settlement No. 25
- https://www.meijimura.com/sight/長崎居留地二十五番館
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Opening hours and closing days
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/open/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Tickets and admission
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/price/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Access
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/access/
- Museum Meiji-Mura: Photography on the grounds
- https://www.meijimura.com/photography/
Last verified: 2026.09.03