What Is the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building?
The Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building (旧九州帝国大学工学部本館, Kyū-Kyūshū Teikoku Daigaku Kōgakubu Honkan) is a three-storey reinforced concrete lecture and research building with a basement, partly steel-framed, completed in 1930 at Kyushu University's Hakozaki Satellite in Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 27 February 2023.
It covers a building area of 3,152 square meters and rises to a central tower. It was designed by Kurata Ken, head of the university's architecture section, with the engineer-designer Ohara Setsuzo, and built by Shimizu-gumi (now Shimizu Corporation). According to the university, work began in November 1928 and the building opened in November 1930 at a cost of about 890,000 yen; on completion it was billed as the tallest building in Fukuoka City.
It replaced the brick engineering college hall lost to fire in 1923 and held the faculty's staff rooms, lecture halls, laboratories and specimen rooms. After the engineering departments moved to the Ito campus in 2007, the Kyushu University Museum and the University Archives moved in.
Why the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building Was Registered
The Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building was registered as a model of architectural design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes its massive, fortress-like exterior as symbolic and points to the finely designed conference rooms and the large lecture hall that survive inside.
Structurally it is valued nationally as an early example of steel-reinforced concrete, the system that became standard for earthquake-resistant building after the Great Kanto Earthquake. The steel frame was used for the large lecture hall and the first conference room. On the Hakozaki campus, the university's assessment ranked it second in age among such buildings, after the old Research Institute for Applied Mechanics building, which no longer stands.
The university also kept the drawings, specifications, tender records and even photographs of the steel frame going up. Being able to trace how it was made through documents was counted among its merits.
Reading the Exterior of the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building
The front of the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building is symmetrical. A lookout tower rises at the center, flanked by two half-cylinder towers that bulge outward. Lower office and laboratory wings run level to either side, and at each end the building steps forward in a T to hold lecture rooms.
The walls are clad in brown Scratch tile, with stone at the base and specially shaped round-edged tiles higher up to cast soft shadows. The university credits these gentle Art Deco curves, made with tiles that would be hard to reproduce today, for making the building the familiar symbol of the campus. Even the tile layout and shapes were carefully worked out, a sign of the builders' skill.
The finest design is concentrated at the main entrance. The four white columns at the front of the porch have carefully patterned capitals; the plaster ceilings on either side are divided by relief work and inset with bronze lamps and round stained-glass panels. The door panels are carved and the transom holds plant-motif stained glass. Look, too, for the condors on the porch brackets and the lions on the rainwater heads.
The Lecture Hall and Fourth-Floor Room of the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building
The largest space inside the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building is the great lecture hall spanning the first and second floors. Tiers of seats curve gently down toward a lectern and blackboard at the bottom, drawing every eye to the front. For generations of Hakozaki students, this hall was the university.
The other highlight is the conference room at the center of the fourth floor. An oil painting fills the whole bay behind the chair's seat, the ceiling and beam soffits carry relief ornament, and carpet, chandeliers and furniture made for the room complete it. It was fitted out as a reception room for a visit by Emperor Showa that never took place. The painting is the last work of the artist Aoyama Kumaji, and the room is known as the "painting room". When student unrest from 1968 damaged several campus buildings, this room and its furnishings escaped unharmed.
The building also had an elevator, then a new technology spreading quickly in Japan. A major three-phase renovation ran from 1985 to 1988, yet original fittings such as basement window sashes survive in many places.
Visiting the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building
The part of the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building open to the public is the Kyushu University Museum's permanent exhibition room on the third floor, created in 2008 from Lecture Room No. 9. After about a year of closure it reopened on 16 May 2026 and is open on weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with free admission (checked September 2026).
The lecture hall and the fourth-floor room are not normally open. The museum has opened usually closed areas on weekends before (May and June 2025), and such openings are announced on its website. Kyushu University is renovating the building, and its fundraising page (as of April 2024) gives fiscal 2027 as the planned start of public use of the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building.
The exterior can be viewed from the paths in the grounds. Stand between it and the Headquarters Office Building to see how the two entrances line up on one axis. Directions to the site and the rules for walking through the grounds are on the Former Kyushu Imperial University page.
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Q&A
- When was the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building built and registered?
- It opened in November 1930 and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 27 February 2023.
- Can I go inside the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building? What are the hours and fees?
- Yes, the Kyushu University Museum's permanent exhibition room on the third floor is open on weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., free of charge (checked September 2026).
- Can visitors see the lecture hall or painting room of the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building?
- Not normally. They are sometimes shown during special museum openings, and the university plans to begin public use of the building in fiscal 2027 (as announced in 2024).
- Who designed the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building?
- Kurata Ken, head of the university's architecture section, with the designer Ohara Setsuzo. It was built by Shimizu-gumi, now Shimizu Corporation.
- What is structurally special about the Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building?
- It is reinforced concrete, with steel-reinforced concrete for the lecture hall and first conference room, an early example of the earthquake-resistant construction that spread after the Great Kanto Earthquake.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building |
|---|---|
| Location | 6-10-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 27 February 2023 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 3,152 m² |
| Owner | Kyushu University, National University Corporation |
| Public Access | Only the third-floor museum exhibition room (weekdays, free) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014543
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/526047
- Fukuoka City Cultural Properties: Former Kyushu Imperial University Faculty of Engineering Main Building (Japanese)
- https://bunkazai.city.fukuoka.lg.jp/cultural_properties/detail/778
- Kyushu University: Modern Buildings at Hakozaki, Former Faculty of Engineering Main Building (Japanese)
- https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/ja/university/campus/hakozaki-campus/hakozaki_buildings/buildings/kougaku/
- Kyushu University: Modern Buildings of the Former Kyushu Imperial University at Hakozaki Satellite (PDF, Japanese)
- https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/f/50488/20221116hakozaki.pdf
- Kyushu University Fund: Renovation Support for the Former Faculty of Engineering Main Building (Japanese)
- https://kikin.kyushu-u.ac.jp/info/news/view.php?cId=1591&mode=1
- Kyushu University: 25th Kyushu University Museum Open Exhibition (Japanese)
- https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/ja/events/view/2074/
- Kyushu University Museum: Events, Permanent Exhibition Reopening (Japanese)
- https://www.museum.kyushu-u.ac.jp/event/index.html
- Kyushu University Museum: Access (Japanese)
- https://www.museum.kyushu-u.ac.jp/access/index.html
Last verified: 2026.09.30
