A Church Paid For by Raw Silk
The Former Numata Church Memorial Hall of the United Church of Christ in Japan (旧日本基督教団沼田教会紀念会堂, Kyu-Nihon Kirisuto Kyodan Numata Kyokai Kinen Kaido, also listed as the Former United Church of Christ in Japan Numata Church Memorial Hall) is a two-storey wooden chapel of 1914 standing at Uenomachi in Numata City, Gunma Prefecture, and it was entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 21 April 1998.
Behind it is a Numata merchant family and the raw silk trade. The Hoshino had made their money exporting silk, and the chapel was built with their support. Two members of the family are named in the city's account: Hoshino Kota, who was a pastor, and Hoshino Ai, who went on to become president of Tsuda College and was later made an honorary citizen of Numata. Christianity had reached inland Gunma through the same commercial channels that carried silk out to Yokohama, and this building is one of the physical results.
Its date places it near the beginning of the record in this prefecture. Of the Christian church buildings still standing in Gunma, only two are older: the Nakuta church of 1887 in Takayama Village, and the Shimamura church of 1897 in Isesaki. Numata's is third.
The carpenter is known by name. Design and construction were both handled by Kosuge Konosuke, who came from Wado in Saitama, now part of Miyashiro Town. His earlier work included buildings for Ferris Seminary and the Yokohama Kaigan Church, both in Kanagawa, which puts him squarely inside the tradition of Japanese carpenters who learned Western framing from the churches and schools of the treaty port.
Why It Was Registered
The register cites the criterion for buildings that set a model in design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs entry singles out three features: the clapboard exterior walls, the tall vertical sash windows, and the steep pitch of the roof.
Those three things together define a whole class of small Meiji and Taisho church buildings put up across rural Japan by carpenters trained in the ports, and Numata has few surviving examples of Taisho-period Western-style architecture of any kind. The chapel matters as evidence of how the idiom travelled: not through architects with foreign diplomas but through builders who had worked on a mission school in Yokohama and then carried the method inland.
The building has led an unusually mobile life since. In 1988 the Numata congregation, marking a century since its founding, decided to build a new church, and supporters had the old hall moved from 663 Nishikurauchimachi to 634 in the same district. It served from then until August 2006 as the Sekiguchi Ko Papercut Art Museum. In June 2016 the previous owner donated it to Numata City. The city dismantled and repaired it, and the move to its present site at 1159-1 Uenomachi was completed in October 2020.
What to Look For
The chapel is small, 112 square metres of building area, and its impact comes from proportion rather than size. The roof pitch is steeper than a Japanese building of the same footprint would use, which is what makes the volume read as European from a distance. Horizontal clapboard covers the walls. The windows are tall, narrow, double-hung sashes, and their vertical rhythm along the flank does most of the work of making the interior feel taller than it is.
Go around to the corner. The building sits on a corner plot along a quiet street, so both long elevations are visible from the pavement, which is unusual for a relocated structure and worth taking advantage of.
Inside there are two spaces in use: a hall seating about forty and an exhibition room, with an attached waiting room. Admission is free. Viewing hours are 9:30 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:30, and the building closes on Wednesdays, or Thursday when Wednesday is a public holiday, on the day after a public holiday, and from 29 December to 3 January. The hall and exhibition room can also be hired by the public for cultural activities and meetings, with evening use possible until 21:00 by prior application; bookings are handled at the Ubukata Memorial Library immediately to the north. Personal photography needs no permission, while commercial and press photography requires an application in advance.
Since the chapel is free and its neighbour is not, a sensible route is to see this building first and then cross to the Former Toki Family Residence Western Wing, which charges 110 yen. Both stand in the Taisho Roman quarter completed in 2024, together with the former Numata Savings Bank and the former Kume Family Residence Western Wing. Numata Station on the JR Joetsu Line is about twenty minutes away on foot, or seven minutes by bus to the Uenomachi stop.
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Q&A
- Can I visit the Former Numata Church Memorial Hall, and is there an admission fee?
- Yes, and admission is free. Viewing hours run from 9:30 to 17:00 with final entry at 16:30. The building closes on Wednesdays, on Thursday when Wednesday is a public holiday, on the day after a public holiday, and from 29 December to 3 January.
- Is the Former Numata Church Memorial Hall still an active church?
- No. The congregation built a new church at the time of its centenary in the late 1980s, and this building was moved and later used as a papercut art museum until 2006. Numata City has owned it since 2016 and now operates it as a cultural facility with a hall and an exhibition room.
- Who built the Former Numata Church Memorial Hall?
- Both the design and the construction were the work of Kosuge Konosuke, a carpenter from Wado in Saitama Prefecture, now part of Miyashiro Town. He had previously worked on buildings for Ferris Seminary and the Yokohama Kaigan Church in Kanagawa. The chapel was funded through the Hoshino family, silk exporters of Numata.
- Can the Former Numata Church Memorial Hall be hired for events?
- Yes. Two spaces are available for hire, a hall taking about forty people and an exhibition room, and use in the evening until 21:00 is possible with prior application. Applications are submitted through the Ubukata Memorial Library. City events take precedence when they arise.
- How old is the Former Numata Church Memorial Hall compared with other churches in Gunma?
- It dates from 1914 and is the third oldest Christian church building surviving in Gunma Prefecture, after the Nakuta church of 1887 in Takayama Village and the Shimamura church of 1897 in Isesaki City.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Numata Church Memorial Hall of the United Church of Christ in Japan (旧日本基督教団沼田教会紀念会堂) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1159-1 Uenomachi, Numata City, Gunma Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), register no. 10-0026 |
| Year Designated | Registered 21 April 1998 (gazetted 9 June 1998) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, two storeys, slate roof, building area 112 m²; built 1914 |
| Owner | Numata City |
| Public Access | Open, admission free. Viewing 9:30 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30). Closed Wednesdays, the day after public holidays, and 29 December to 3 January. Hall and exhibition room available for hire. |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Former Numata Church Memorial Hall
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00000524
- Cultural Heritage Online — Former Numata Church Memorial Hall
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/113404
- Numata City Board of Education — Former Numata Church Memorial Hall
- https://www.city.numata.gunma.jp/kyouiku/bunkazai/ichiran/yukei/1000887.html
- Numata City — Visitor Information for the Former Numata Church Memorial Hall
- https://www.city.numata.gunma.jp/kanko/bunka/1010473/1010474.html
- Numata City Tourism Association — Former Numata Church Memorial Hall
- https://www.numata-kankou.jp/activity/sight/christ/index.html
Last verified: 2026.08.08