A government office built to hold books
The Meiji Village Cabinet Library (明治村内閣文庫, Meijimura Naikaku Bunko) is a government office building of 1911 standing in Museum Meiji-mura in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, and it was entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 17 February 2004. It is the administrative wing of the headquarters of the Cabinet Library, the central library of the Meiji government.
That library began in 1873 inside the Akasaka Detached Palace under the name Dajokan Bunko, the library of the Grand Council of State. Records inherited from the Tokugawa shogunate were joined by documents gathered from around the country and by books bought from abroad. A collection that keeps growing needs a building, and in 1911 this one went up.
The architect was Okuma Yoshikuni of the Temporary Building Department of the Ministry of Finance, who would later direct construction of the National Diet Building. The original site was Chiyoda in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, where a brick stack building stood behind the offices. Only the front block travelled to Aichi as the Meiji Village Cabinet Library.
From brick to reinforced concrete
The register lists the Meiji Village Cabinet Library as a 2-storey reinforced concrete building with a slate roof and a floor area of 292 square meters. That was not how it was first built. The original had brick walls set with Gassan andesite, and after the building came down between 1984 and 1985 the structure was rebuilt in reinforced concrete for the move in 1990.
The criterion recorded by the Agency for Cultural Affairs is that the design set a standard for its kind. A structure whose bones were replaced still qualified, which says plainly where the value was judged to lie. What survives is the argument the design makes about how far Japanese architects had absorbed the western orders by the end of the Meiji era.
A Doric front and a keyaki stair hall
Four Doric half-columns line the front of the Meiji Village Cabinet Library, with square piers at the corners. They carry a broad pediment cut with arabesque ornament and centred on a medallion, a composition inherited from Greek and Roman temple fronts and put to work here on a Meiji ministry building. A small domed lantern sits on the ridge above.
Two treatments, one wall
The elevation changes halfway up. The ground floor is rendered in mortar and scored with horizontal joints so that it reads as coursed stone. The upper floor is faced in white tile. Tall casement windows with paired sashes run in an even rhythm across both. Stand close and compare the two textures, and the shift is easy to see.
Inside
Both floors follow the same plan. A hall and stair sit behind the entrance, corridors run out to each wing, a large room lies at the back and smaller rooms fill the ends of the wings. Joinery around the entrance hall and stair is keyaki, Japanese zelkova, finished by rubbing with lacquer. Walls and ceilings are white plaster, and a cornice runs around the ceilings.
Ceiling roses and chimneypieces
Every room in the Meiji Village Cabinet Library, the entrance included, has a decorated centrepiece on the ceiling. The principal rooms have fireplaces, and their surrounds change material from room to room: keyaki in one, white marble in another, artificial stone in a third. A building meant above all to keep books safe still found room for choices like these.
Visiting
The Meiji Village Cabinet Library stands at plot 59 in the fifth district of Museum Meiji-mura. Admission is 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students and 700 yen for junior high and elementary school students, with preschool children free. The museum lists interior details among the things to look at here, though repairs sometimes close a building and some interiors have restricted areas, so check the notices on the day.
Opening hours vary by season. March, April to July, September and October run 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. August is 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., November is 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and December to February the museum opens 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Closing days are published in advance on the official calendar.
Personal photography is allowed. Tripods may not be used inside the buildings and photography that involves entering the wooded areas is prohibited. Eating and drinking inside buildings other than the food outlets is discouraged.
The museum is 20 minutes by bus from Meitetsu Inuyama Station, with direct coaches from Nagoya Station and Sakae. By car it is 3 kilometers from the Komaki-higashi interchange on the Chuo Expressway, and parking holds 900 cars at 1,000 yen.
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Q&A
- Where did the Meiji Village Cabinet Library originally stand?
- In Chiyoda, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. It was the headquarters of the Cabinet Library, the central library of the Meiji government, built in 1911. Only the administrative front block was moved; a brick stack building stood behind it.
- Who designed the Meiji Village Cabinet Library?
- Okuma Yoshikuni of the Temporary Building Department of the Ministry of Finance, the architect who later directed construction of the National Diet Building. He worked here in a Renaissance idiom.
- Is the Meiji Village Cabinet Library brick or reinforced concrete?
- It was built in brick set with Gassan andesite, and the structure was changed to reinforced concrete when the building was re-erected in 1990. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a 2-storey reinforced concrete building with a slate roof and a floor area of 292 square meters.
- When did the Meiji Village Cabinet Library become a registered cultural property?
- It was registered on 17 February 2004 as a registered tangible cultural property, under the criterion that the building is a model for design.
- How do you reach the Meiji Village Cabinet Library?
- It stands at plot 59 in the fifth district of Museum Meiji-mura, 20 minutes by bus from Meitetsu Inuyama Station. Direct coaches run from Nagoya Station and Sakae, and by car it is 3 kilometers from the Komaki-higashi interchange on the Chuo Expressway.
Basic Information
| Name | Meiji Village Cabinet Library |
|---|---|
| Location | Museum Meiji-mura, 1 Uchiyama, Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2004 (Heisei 16) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Floor area 292 square meters |
| Owner | Meiji Mura Public Interest Foundation |
| Public Access | Open within Museum Meiji-mura; admission charged |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Meijimura Naikaku Bunko
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003877
- Museum Meiji-mura: Naikaku Bunko
- https://www.meijimura.com/sight/内閣文庫/
- Museum Meiji-mura: Opening hours and closing 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/
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Structures)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/
Last verified: 2026.09.03