Ueno Building (Former Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha Wakamatsu Branch)

The Ueno Building and Its Four Registered Structures

The Ueno Building (Former Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha Wakamatsu Branch) (上野ビル（旧三菱合資会社若松支店）, Ueno Biru) is a group of former office buildings built in 1913 in Honmachi, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture; its main building, warehouse building, former analysis room and gate posts and wall were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 29, 2013. It went up as the Wakamatsu branch of Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha, the partnership company that then headed the Mitsubishi business, and later passed to the shipping firm Ueno Kaiun, which is why its owners also call it the Ueno Kaiun Building.

The site lies on Wakamatsu's south waterfront, where the Dokai Bay opens toward the sea. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the three-storey brick Main Building faces Wakamatsu harbor. To its west stands the two-storey brick Warehouse Building, turned to face east, and north of the warehouse is the single-storey timber Former Analysis Room, which also faces east. Kitakyushu City describes the three buildings as a set enclosed by one continuous wall with gate posts.

The wall runs along the south, east and north sides of the site. Gates open at three points: toward the east end of the south side, and at the east and west ends of the north side. The south side, facing the water, is the front of the site and holds the main gate posts. The Wakamatsu landing of the Wakato ferry sits directly in front of the Ueno Building; measured from the national database coordinates, it is only about 75 meters from the Main Building.

From Mitsubishi Coal Office to Ueno Kaiun Building

Kitakyushu City's list of Japan Heritage component properties describes the Ueno Building as the offices of Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha, which handled the sale and shipment of coal from the Chikuho coalfield inland. Wakamatsu grew rich as the port where that coal was loaded onto ships, and the city presents the south waterfront as a band of Taisho-era buildings left from the coal boom. The Agency for Cultural Affairs reads the group in the same way: the walled compound and the small laboratory where coal quality was tested are what mark it out as a coal company's local office.

A list published by the Kanto-Koshinetsu chapter of the Japan Institute of Architects (JIA) names Yasuoka Katsuya as the architect of the Ueno Building. Yasuoka had headed Mitsubishi's in-house design office in Marunouchi, Tokyo. According to LIXIL's INAX REPORT, he left Mitsubishi in 1912, stayed on as a consultant for about a year and opened his own practice in 1913, the year the Wakamatsu branch was completed. Kitakyushu City notes that the Main Building first had a helmet-shaped canopy over its entrance and a tower on the right of the front. The symmetrical facade seen today is the result of a later extension at the entrance and alterations to the top floor.

The JIA list records that Ueno Kaiun acquired the Ueno Building in 1969. Little has been changed since. The firm keeps its own office on the ground floor of the Main Building and lets the upper two floors to shops and small offices. Because so much of the old fabric survives, the building is often used as a film location; the owners list among others the films Aibou: The Movie IV (2017) and K-20: Legend of the Mask (2009).

The Ueno Building is also one of the component properties of the Japan Heritage story "Kanmon Nostalgic Straits," recognized in 2017.

The Four Registrations at the Ueno Building

All four parts of the Ueno Building were registered on the same day, under the consecutive numbers 40-0081 to 40-0084, and all on the same ground: each serves as a model of design. The national database dates all four to 1913.

• Ueno Building Main Building: three-storey brick building with a flat roof and a building area of 465 square meters; the office block, with stained glass set into the ceiling of its central atrium
• Ueno Building Warehouse Building: two-storey brick building with a tiled Kirizuma-zukuri gable roof and a building area of 190 square meters; L-shaped in plan, with the Mitsubishi emblem on its east gable
• Ueno Building Former Analysis Room: single-storey timber building with a tiled gable roof and a building area of 119 square meters, where coal was tested for quality
• Ueno Building Gate Posts and Wall: 6 brick gate posts and a brick wall with a total length of 115 meters

The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the address as 1-14-1 Honmachi and other lots, while Kitakyushu City and the owners use 1-10-17 Honmachi. The first appears to be the land lot number at registration and the second the street address used for mail. The national database names Linker Co., Ltd. as the owner, whereas the official Ueno Building website is run by Ueno Kaiun Co., Ltd.; how the two are related has not been confirmed.

Visiting the Ueno Building

The Ueno Building is a working rental building, with no visitor desk and no admission charge announced. The owners write that the stained glass ceiling over the Main Building's atrium draws many sightseers, and a 2022 article on a local information site says members of the public can go inside. Remember, though, that the building houses offices and shops, each with its own opening days and hours. Walk quietly in the corridors and galleries so as not to disturb the people working there.

The official website allows photography for personal, hobby purposes without asking. Model shoots and photo sessions on the premises need to be arranged with Ueno Kaiun in advance, unannounced photo sessions are banned, and photographs of the Ueno Building may not be sold (official website, October 2026). Ueno Kaiun takes enquiries by phone on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The easiest approach is by the Wakato ferry from Tobata on the opposite shore. Kitakyushu City says the Tobata landing is a walk of just under 10 minutes straight toward the sea from the north exit of JR Tobata Station. The crossing takes 3 minutes and costs 100 yen one way for adults, and from the 7 a.m. hour to the 7 p.m. hour at least 4 boats run each way every hour, on weekdays and holidays alike. Step off at the Wakamatsu landing and the Ueno Building is right in front of you.

You can also walk from JR Wakamatsu Station, the end of the Chikuho Main Line, which is about 750 meters from the Ueno Building in a straight line, measured from coordinates. By car, the owners put it about 5 minutes from the Wakato Bridge and the Wakato Tunnel.