A Drying House Built for Railway Timber
The Civic Activity Support Wing of the Asahikawa City Civic Activities Exchange Center (旭川市市民活動交流センター市民活動支援棟, also written Asahikawa-shi Shimin Katsudō Kōryū Sentā), originally the timber drying house of the Japanese National Railways Asahikawa Rolling Stock Center (旧国鉄旭川車両センター木機乾燥場), stands at Miyamae 1-jo 3-chome in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, was completed in 1899 (Meiji 32), and was entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 17 November 2015. The two brick buildings on the site are known throughout the city by their nickname, CoCoDe (ココデ).
Railway carriages of the Meiji period were built largely of wood. Frames, floor planks, panelling and window sashes all came out of a timber shop, and green lumber cut in the Hokkaido interior could not go straight to the saw. It had to lose its moisture slowly and under control, or the finished parts would twist once a carriage entered service. The railway therefore gave the seasoning process a building of its own.
That building is almost square in plan, with a floor area of 331 square metres arranged over two levels. Its walls are brick, later reinforced with concrete during the 2010 conversion, and the roof is clad in sheet metal. The proportions are those of a working structure rather than a showpiece: solid, compact, and shaped around what happened inside.
The Asahikawa works opened along with the government railway's Kamikawa line at the end of the nineteenth century, part of a wave of railway workshops built across Hokkaido between 1880 and 1902. The design is attributed to the civil engineer Tanabe Sakurō, though the attribution comes from later accounts rather than from the Agency for Cultural Affairs record.
Why the Building Was Registered
Registration came on 17 November 2015 under registry number 01-0143, in the eighty-second round of listings, on the criterion that the building is a model of design. Ownership rests with the City of Asahikawa.
The brickwork carries that judgement. The outer walls are laid in Flemish bond, alternating headers and stretchers in every course, a pattern that costs more labour than the running bond used on ordinary sheds. At the centre of each gable end sits a three-centred arch, a flattened curve struck from three points rather than one. The remaining openings use segmental arches, shallower still. Pediments and corner pilasters are picked out in overburnt brick, the dark, glassy-surfaced kind that comes out of the far end of a kiln, so the decorative lines read as a deeper colour against the red field.
None of this was required to dry wood. Someone in the railway's building office decided that a workshop on the edge of a frontier town should look considered, and the detailing survives because the walls did.
Survival was not certain. The Asahikawa Rolling Stock Center closed on 1 December 1985, and the buildings around it came down one after another. A local campaign to keep the brickwork is credited with saving these two. The redevelopment of the station district under the Kita-Saito Asahikawa scheme eventually gave them a use, and the converted centre opened on 29 June 2010.
What to Look For on a Visit
Start outside, at one of the gable ends. The three-centred arch at the centre is the clearest single feature on the building, and once you have found it the segmental openings on the flanks read as a deliberate second rank rather than as plain windows.
Then look at colour. Overburnt brick is not a different material, only brick that took more heat, and the difference is subtle in flat light and obvious when the sun is low. Winter helps: snow on the ground throws light upward onto the wall, and the pediment lines separate from the field.
Inside, the ground floor holds the reception and consultation desk, an information and reading corner, an exhibition and exchange area, and a children's corner. Meeting and training rooms, a work and consultation room, a copy and print room and rental lockers occupy the upper floor. A small display on the railway history of the site, using items and photographs said to be on loan from JR, is reported to occupy part of the wing.
The centre is open from 9:00 to 22:00. It closes on the second and fourth Monday of each month, moving to the following day when that Monday is a public holiday, and over the New Year period from 30 December to 4 January. Walking in to look at the public areas costs nothing; the meeting rooms and hall are charged by the hour and booked in advance.
Getting there takes about twenty-five minutes on foot from JR Asahikawa Station, or about fifteen from JR Asahikawa-Shijo Station, which is closer. By car it is roughly five minutes from Asahikawa Station, and the site has thirty-eight parking spaces including two accessible bays. Buses stop at Gōdō Chōsha-mae. There is no published rule covering photography of the interior, so ask at the desk before taking pictures indoors.
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Q&A
- Can visitors go inside the Asahikawa City Civic Activities Exchange Center Civic Activity Support Wing, and what are the opening hours?
- Yes. The building works as a public community facility and the open areas can be entered without charge from 9:00 to 22:00. It closes on the second and fourth Monday of each month, or the next day when that falls on a public holiday, and from 30 December to 4 January. Rooms for hire are charged by the hour and need to be booked ahead.
- What was the former Asahikawa Rolling Stock Center timber drying house actually used for?
- It seasoned the wood used in railway carriages. Meiji-period rolling stock relied heavily on timber for frames, panelling and fittings, and freshly cut lumber had to dry under controlled conditions before it could be worked, otherwise the finished parts warped in service.
- How do I reach the Asahikawa City Civic Activities Exchange Center Civic Activity Support Wing from Asahikawa Station?
- Allow about twenty-five minutes on foot from JR Asahikawa Station, or about five minutes by car. JR Asahikawa-Shijo Station is nearer, roughly fifteen minutes' walk. City buses stop at Gōdō Chōsha-mae, and the site has thirty-eight parking spaces.
- What makes the brickwork of the Civic Activity Support Wing worth examining?
- Three things. The walls are laid in Flemish bond rather than a cheaper running bond. Each gable end carries a three-centred arch at its centre, with shallower segmental arches over the other openings. Pediments and corner pilasters are built up in overburnt brick, which fires darker and gives the decorative lines their contrast.
- How is the Civic Activity Support Wing different from the Hall Wing next to it?
- They are separate registrations. This wing, the former drying house, is roughly square, two storeys, 331 square metres, and holds the reception and the meeting rooms. The Hall Wing, the former second timber workshop, sits to the east on a staggered alignment, covers 462 square metres, is mostly single-storey, and contains the multipurpose hall.
Basic Information
| Name | Asahikawa City Civic Activities Exchange Center Civic Activity Support Wing (former Japanese National Railways Asahikawa Rolling Stock Center Timber Drying House) |
|---|---|
| Location | 13 Miyamae 1-jo 3-chome, Asahikawa City, Hokkaido |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registry number 01-0143 |
| Year Designated | 17 November 2015 (Heisei 27) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Brick and reinforced concrete, two storeys, sheet-metal roof, building area 331 square metres |
| Owner | City of Asahikawa |
| Public Access | Open as a public community facility, 9:00 to 22:00. Closed on the second and fourth Monday of each month (the following day when a public holiday) and from 30 December to 4 January. No admission charge for the open areas; rooms for hire are charged by the hour. |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Asahikawa City Civic Activities Exchange Center Civic Activity Support Wing
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010712
- Cultural Heritage Online: Asahikawa City Civic Activities Exchange Center Civic Activity Support Wing
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/213637
- City of Asahikawa: Asahikawa City Civic Activities Exchange Center CoCoDe
- https://www.city.asahikawa.hokkaido.jp/facility00/facility08/p006145.html
- City of Asahikawa: Designated and Registered Cultural Properties in Asahikawa
- https://www.city.asahikawa.hokkaido.jp/kurashi/329/348/353/p000162.html
- Asahikawa City Civic Activities Exchange Center CoCoDe, official site
- https://cocode.jp/
Last verified: 2026.08.27