About Kaiyusha
The Former Etajima Navy Enlisted Men's Club (海友舎, Kaiyusha) at Chuo, Etajima-cho, Etajima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, was a club for petty officers and sailors of the Imperial Navy, whose two-storey timber front building of 1907 and single-storey building built in Kure in 1905 and moved here in 1928 were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on April 3, 2020 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
According to the Guruguru Kaiyusha Project, the club served the sailors and petty officers of the Naval Academy, with a bath, games rooms and bedrooms. Sold into private hands in 1948, it became a company office, and since 2012 volunteers have preserved and used it privately.
Two Buildings
The two-storey building is a hipped, pan-tiled Western-style house with a gabled porch, upper balcony, clapboard walls and sash windows; inside are tatami rooms and alcoves (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Guruguru Kaiyusha Project).
The single-storey building behind it is the Oshokan from the Kure navy club, an L-shaped hall containing a martial arts room and a games room. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the pair a rare surviving timber club for naval enlisted men.
Visiting and Location
According to the Guruguru Kaiyusha Project, the interior can be seen on guided tours by advance booking (usually 60 minutes, 500 yen per person, free for students and preschool children; groups of ten or more by arrangement), applied for through the project's mail form.
The club is at Chuo 2-chome, Etajima-cho, Etajima City.
References
- Kaiyusha, Two-Storey Building (Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013337
- Kaiyusha, Single-Storey Building (Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013338
- History of Kaiyusha (Guruguru Kaiyusha Project)
- https://www.kaiyousya.com/%E6%B5%B7%E5%8F%8B%E8%88%8E%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AF/%E6%B5%B7%E5%8F%8B%E8%88%8E%E3%81%AE%E9%81%8D%E6%AD%B4/
- About the Former Etajima Navy Enlisted Men's Club (Guruguru Kaiyusha Project)
- https://www.kaiyousya.com/%E6%B5%B7%E5%8F%8B%E8%88%8E%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AF/%E6%B1%9F%E7%94%B0%E5%B3%B6%E6%B5%B7%E8%BB%8D%E4%B8%8B%E5%A3%AB%E5%8D%92%E9%9B%86%E4%BC%9A%E6%89%80%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AF/
- Kaiyusha Guided Tours (Guruguru Kaiyusha Project)
- https://www.kaiyousya.com/%E6%B4%BB%E5%8B%95%E7%B4%B9%E4%BB%8B/%E6%B5%B7%E5%8F%8B%E8%88%8E%E3%82%AC%E3%82%A4%E3%83%89%E3%83%84%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BC/
Last verified: 2026.10.11
Basic Information
| Name | Former Etajima Navy Enlisted Men's Club (Kaiyusha) |
|---|---|
| Location | 17490 Chuo 2-chome, Etajima-cho, Etajima City, Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (2) |
| Coordinates | 34.24765, 132.47688 |
