Moricho Ryokan Main Building
The Moricho Ryokan Main Building (森長旅館本館) is a two-storey Western-style timber inn of 1934 in Funakawaminato, Oga City, Akita Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on February 9, 2005 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records it as built in 1934, a timber structure of 2 storeys with a sheet-metal roof and a building area of 237 square metres; registration number 05-0113.
The oldest of the three registered buildings at Moricho Ryokan, it is also the face of the inn: a cream-walled block on a street corner opposite Oga Station, recognisable from a distance by the broken pitch of its mansard roof.
Exterior and Plan
The roof is a hipped mansard: on all four sides the lower slope drops steeply and the upper slope flattens out, all of it clad in sheet metal. The walls are finished in mortar, with the corner posts left visible and two horizontal mouldings, a belt course at the second-floor line and a cornice at the eaves, running all the way round (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The entrance is on the north side under a gently bowed gable of the Japanese type known as a mukuri hafu, which carries a bat ornament. Bats, an auspicious emblem borrowed from China, turn up as decoration on many buildings of the period, and here the bowed Japanese gable set into a Western-style wall sums up the building neatly.
Inside, a central corridor runs between rows of tatami guest rooms, with the kitchen and service areas at the back (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Western outside and Japanese inside: the inn took on a modern look without changing how its guests actually lived.
Why It Was Registered
The Moricho Ryokan Main Building was registered on February 9, 2005, the same day as the Annex and the Storehouse, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to the two-storey Western-style inn on its corner lot, its mortar walls with exposed corner posts and mouldings, and the bowed gable with its bat ornament over the entrance, and describes the building as a reminder of Funakawa Port in its busier days. Its long presence on the corner by the station, as part of the port town's streetscape, is the reason for its registration.
What to Look For
Start at the street corner, where the whole volume is visible. The break in the mansard roof, the two horizontal mouldings and the exposed corner posts frame the mortar walls almost like a drawing.
Then walk round to the north entrance to see the curve of the gable and the bat up close. This is where the Western wall meets the Japanese porch, and it is the clearest place to read the blend that defines the Moricho Ryokan Main Building.
Indoors, the central corridor and the run of tatami rooms keep their original layout. According to the inn, its six Standard Twin rooms each have a sunroom-style engawa and measure 21 to 27 square metres, and the chairs, tables and chests in them are the inn's own furniture, restored rather than replaced.
Visiting
The Moricho Ryokan Main Building is in use as an inn, so the interior is open to overnight guests and to people using the day-use sauna. The lounge, which doubles as reception and as the Mori Aogaeru bar, is immediately to the left of the entrance (official website).
On the ground floor are a sauna for up to 5 people and a family bath that can be reserved by the hour. The sauna alternates between women-only, men-only and mixed swimsuit sessions depending on the day and time, and the last day-use admission is 8:00 p.m. (official website, checked October 2026).
No official arrangement for viewing the building without staying or using the sauna was found. The exterior can be seen freely from the street; ask staff before taking photographs inside.
Q&A
- Can you go inside the Moricho Ryokan Main Building?
- Yes, if you stay overnight or use the day-use sauna. There is no official arrangement for viewing the building alone, but the exterior can be seen from the street.
- What kind of building is the Moricho Ryokan Main Building?
- A two-storey Western-style timber inn built in 1934, with a sheet-metal mansard roof and mortar walls; inside, tatami guest rooms line a central corridor (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- What is the ornament over the entrance of the Moricho Ryokan Main Building?
- A bat, mounted on the bowed gable above the north entrance (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Bats were used as an auspicious motif on many buildings of the period.
- Is there a sauna in the Moricho Ryokan Main Building as well?
- Yes. A sauna for up to 5 people on the ground floor alternates between women-only, men-only and mixed swimsuit sessions depending on the day and time (official website, checked October 2026).
- When was the Moricho Ryokan Main Building registered?
- On February 9, 2005 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Moricho Ryokan Main Building (森長旅館本館) |
|---|---|
| Location | 82 Sakaemachi, Funakawa, Funakawaminato, Oga City, Akita Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2005/2/9 (Heisei 17) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys, sheet-metal roof; building area 237 square metres |
| Owner | Chuo Kenso Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | In use as an inn; interior open to guests and day-use sauna users only. Exterior visible from the street |
References
- Moricho Ryokan Main Building (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004494
- Rooms (Moricho Ryokan official website, Japanese)
- https://morichoryokan.com/room/
- Facilities Guide (Moricho Ryokan official website, Japanese)
- https://morichoryokan.com/guide/
- Sauna (Moricho Ryokan official website, Japanese)
- https://morichoryokan.com/sauna/
Last verified: 2026.10.28
