What scratch tile is
Scratch tile is scored with fine vertical grooves. Unlike a smooth tile it scatters light, so a large wall surface does not read as flat.
It belongs to the late Taisho and early Showa years. Gakushi Kaikan in Tokyo, built in 1928 and extended in 1937, is described as a reconstruction after the Great Kanto Earthquake in steel-reinforced concrete, characterised by the great semicircular arch of its entrance, an exterior in this tile, and the contrast between the straight lines around the second and third storey windows and the curves of the fourth, by two named architects.
The former Yokkaichi library in Mie Prefecture, built in 1929, is described as two storeys of reinforced concrete faced in the same tile with comparatively large windows. Concrete buildings used it widely.
Timber buildings took it too. The former Futamata town hall in Shizuoka Prefecture, built in 1936, is described as a two-storey timber office building, Yosemune-zukuri and pantiled, its corner pilasters and ground-floor walls faced in this tile, with tall sash windows in a row and a slightly tall porch at the front, the work of a local master carpenter.
Partial use, and dating
It rarely covers everything. The Futamata building uses it only on the corner pilasters and the ground floor, finishing the upper storey differently. Combining it with Araidashi or Shitami-itabari, face by face, is common.
It also appears at the base of a wall. The former gatehouse of Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, built in 1931, is described as rendered in mortar with this tile laid in Yahazu-zumi at the base and weatherboarding above. Even the pattern of laying is recorded.
Because its period of use was short, it helps with dating. It was favoured in the rebuilding after the 1923 earthquake and fell out of use after the war, so a record naming it points to a building of the late Taisho or prewar Showa years.
On site, look closely at the wall. Fine vertical scoring on each tile, rough to the touch, identifies it; from a distance the scoring disappears and the surface reads as a soft, even shading.
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Registered tangible cultural properties (structures)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/toroku_yukei.html
- National Cultural Properties Database: Gakushi Kaikan, a post-earthquake reconstruction faced in scratch tile
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003070
- National Cultural Properties Database: former Yokkaichi library, two storeys of concrete faced in scratch tile
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003103
- National Cultural Properties Database: former Futamata town hall, scratch tile on its corner pilasters and ground floor
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003102
- National Cultural Properties Database: Hitotsubashi University former gatehouse, tile laid in herringbone at its base
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001766
Last verified: 2026.09.11