Former Date County Office

A Meiji County Office with a Central Tower

The Former Date County Office (旧伊達郡役所) is a timber county office built in 1883 in Jinya, Koori Town, Date District, Fukushima Prefecture, which in 1977 was designated an Important Cultural Property.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a timber building of two storeys with a single-storey section, an entrance and a central tower, a pantiled roof and a building area of 376.2 square metres. It belongs to Koori Town.

The Agency describes the Former Date County Office as the largest surviving county office building, in the pseudo-Western style of early Meiji Japan.

A County Office Won by Local Campaigning

Koori Town explains that the Date county office was first set up in Hobara in 1879. Local supporters campaigned to bring it to Koori, and when it moved there in April 1883 this pseudo-Western building was put up for it.

The central tower that crowned the original design was taken down in 1887 because it swayed too much. The tower seen today was restored in 1979.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency judges the Former Date County Office a well-made pseudo-Western building with few alterations that shows the character of early Meiji architecture well, and a particularly fine example for the Tohoku region.

Koori Town lists its features: a base of dressed stone, painted weatherboarded walls with a projecting veranda, a full two-storey front with a central tower, eaves trimmed with imitation rafter ends and round cut cornices, and glazed sash windows throughout. Western forms are copied, with Japanese touches here and there, which is what makes it pseudo-Western.

What to Look For

From the front, look up at the central tower. Lost in 1887 and returned to its original form in 1979, it gives the building its outline.

Then follow the eaves, where a row of imitation rafter ends and a round cut cornice run along the front. The veranda projecting on the upper floor and the line of sash windows are also clear from the front.

Visiting the Former Date County Office

Koori Town gives opening hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (last entry 4:30 p.m.), closed on Mondays and the day after a public holiday (Tuesday when Monday is a holiday). Admission is free; telephone 024-582-5507.

Koori Town is building a history and tourism centre on the site. The office remains open during construction, but the main gate is closed; enter by the side gate east of it. The Tohoku Tourism Promotion Organization gives access as about 20 minutes on foot from Koori Station on the JR Tohoku Line, or about 10 minutes by car from the Date-Koori interchange of the Tohoku-Chuo Expressway.