What Is the Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building?
The Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building (旧九州帝国大学本部建築課棟, Kyū-Kyūshū Teikoku Daigaku Honbu Kenchikuka-tō) is a two-storey brick building with a basement, completed in 1925 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 230 square meters and carries a small central tower. It stands south-east of the Faculty of Engineering Main Building, side by side with the Headquarters Office Building, and the university calls the two "brother buildings". Kurata Ken, head of the architecture section, designed it and Saeki Komusho (today Saeki Kensetsu) built it; work began in 1924 and finished in March 1925.
The Office That Gave the Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building Its Name
The Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building began life as the "First Temporary Laboratory". After the engineering college's main hall burned in 1923, it provided lab space until a replacement was ready, and like the office building next door it was built in durable brick because it was always meant to serve the university headquarters later.
From 1930, when the Faculty of Engineering Main Building opened, until the headquarters moved out in April 2014, it housed mainly the architecture section, later renamed the facilities division. The department that designed and maintained the university's buildings worked here, and that is the origin of its registered name. Until 2004, when national universities became independent corporations, a ministry construction field office also occupied the ground floor.
Why the Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building Was Registered
The Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building was registered as a model of architectural design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that its well-balanced exterior matches that of the Headquarters Office Building.
Kyushu University's assessment sees it as a smaller, more elegant accent beside the formal axis created by the engineering building and the office building facing each other. Plainer and smaller than its brother, it shows how a handsome building could be made on a tighter budget, and as a brick structure of the mid-1920s it belongs to the very last phase of brick construction in Japan.
What to Look For on the Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building
The Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building is symmetrical, with its entrance at the center of the west side. Every wall is red brick in English bond, the joints running true, a sign of careful workmanship. White bands and string courses of artificial stone run above and below, and a granite cornice separates the two floors; the base and eaves, the national database adds, are finished in exposed-aggregate mortar (Araidashi).
Because of the half-basement, the door sits at the top of six stone steps, and there is no carriage porch. That is the quickest way to tell it from the office building next door.
Then look up at the tower. Its crown repeats the pediment that once topped the front of the burned engineering hall, and the university thinks the stones themselves were reused. A stone arch frames the tower window, and the central window on the upper floor has a shaped granite sill. The keystones over each window and the sills with rounded corners also echo the windows of the lost hall.
Inside, rooms open off a central corridor (Naka-roka). The stair hall with its open well (Fukinuke) and the basement keep much of their original design, and some basement window sashes date from construction.
Seeing the Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building
The Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building has been used as offices, and no interior openings are announced. It is viewed from the paths in the grounds.
It is best seen together with the Headquarters Office Building beside it. Compare the office building's porch with this building's raised doorway reached by steps, and the different roles of two buildings put up in the same year by the same architect become clear. Step back a little to take in the stone crown of the tower. 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 Headquarters Architecture Section Building built and registered?
- It was completed in March 1925 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 27 February 2023.
- What was the "architecture section" in the Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building?
- It was the university department that designed and maintained campus buildings, later the facilities division. It used the building from 1930 onward.
- How is the Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building related to the Headquarters Office Building?
- They are brother buildings, built side by side in 1925 by the same architect and contractor. The architecture section building is smaller and plainer.
- Does the Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building reuse parts of the burned hall?
- Kyushu University says bricks from the engineering hall that burned in 1923 were reused, and believes the pediment on the tower is also salvaged stone.
- Can visitors enter the Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building?
- No interior openings are announced. The building is seen from the paths in the grounds.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section 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 230 m² |
| Owner | Kyushu University, National University Corporation |
| Public Access | Interior closed; exterior only |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014545
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/603969
- Fukuoka City Cultural Properties: Former Kyushu Imperial University Headquarters Architecture Section Building (Japanese)
- https://bunkazai.city.fukuoka.lg.jp/cultural_properties/detail/780
- 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: Hakozaki Modern Buildings to Become Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Japanese)
- https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/ja/topics/view/1854/
Last verified: 2026.09.30
