Ehime Prefectural Government Main Building

A Domed Prefectural Office of 1929

The Ehime Prefectural Government Main Building (愛媛県庁本館) is a prefectural government building of 1929 in Ichibancho, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on February 26, 2021 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a four-storey reinforced-concrete building with a flat roof, a building area of 2,104 square metres and a tower; registration number 38-150.

An H-Shaped Prefectural Office

The Ehime Prefectural Government Main Building is a four-storey reinforced-concrete office on an H-shaped plan (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Over the central carriage porch stand 3 semicircular arches, crowned by a tower with a dome, with wings projecting on either side.

Ehime Prefecture says it was completed on February 9, 1929, and is the third oldest prefectural office still in use in Japan, after those of Osaka (1926) and Kanagawa (1928). A noted architect of the day and the structural engineer who later designed Tokyo Tower both worked on its design.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency notes an exterior of stonework and smooth artificial stone, with decoration kept to the porch openings and window surrounds, while the interior, including the central staircase hall and the ceremonial hall, is richly decorated; it was registered as a model of design.

What to Look For

Look for the 3 semicircular arches over the central porch and the domed tower above them (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by Ehime Prefecture and still in use as the prefectural office (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Ehime Prefecture). No official information on interior tours was found.