Niijima Gakuen Junior College Research Building (Former Circular School Building of Takasaki Municipal Girls' High School)

A Round School of 1956 by Sakamoto Kanao

The Niijima Gakuen Junior College Research Building (Former Circular School Building of Takasaki Municipal Girls' High School) (新島学園短期大学研究棟（旧高崎市立女子高等学校円形校舎）) is an early circular school building by Sakamoto Kanao of 1956 in Showamachi, Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on May 10, 2018 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a three-storey reinforced-concrete building with a rooftop structure and a building area of 491 square metres; registration number 10-0340.

A Round Plan around a Spiral Stair

The research building of Niijima Gakuen Junior College was built in 1956 as the circular school building of Takasaki Municipal Girls' High School; it is a three-storey reinforced-concrete building with a cylindrical rooftop structure (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The centre of each floor is a hall with a spiral staircase at its heart, and the outer ring is divided into six, giving five classrooms and a stair and toilets (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency notes that it is an early work by Sakamoto Kanao and a well-loved local landmark.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape.

What to Look For

Look for the round building with its cylindrical rooftop and the spiral stair at its centre (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by the Niijima Gakuen school corporation (Agency for Cultural Affairs). As a college building, no official information on visits was found.