A Round Roof on the Tokachi Plain
The Former Futaba Kindergarten Building (旧双葉幼稚園園舎, Kyū Futaba Yōchien Ensha, also written Kyu Futaba Yochien Ensha) stands at Higashi 4-jo Minami 10-chome in Obihiro, Hokkaido. It was completed in 1922 and designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan on 31 July 2017, the first building in the Tokachi region to receive that designation.
The plan takes one sentence to describe and rather longer to get over. A square timber building holds an octagonal playroom at its centre; four classrooms attach to four sides of that octagon. The playroom has no ceiling in the usual sense. It opens upward through a ring of high windows into a dome, so daylight arrives from above and from every compass point at once, and a child standing in the middle casts almost no shadow.
Timber frame, iron-sheet roofing, a footprint of 302.16 square metres. Small numbers, by any measure.
Local people knew it for ninety-one years as the kindergarten with the red round roof.
Why the Building Was Designated
Two grounds were cited in 2017: excellence of design, and high historical value.
The design case rests on the plan. Kindergarten architecture in modern Japan settled into a handful of standard layouts, and one of them put a large playroom at the centre with teaching rooms arranged around it. Taisho-era (1912 to 1926) examples of that type have almost all gone. This one survives, and it pushes the idea harder than most. Seen from outside, the building resolves into elementary solids: a hemisphere on an octagonal drum, set on a square block, with triangular gables cutting across the roofline. A five-year-old could name every shape in it. That was very likely the intention.
Agency for Cultural Affairs records attribute the layout to ideas advanced by Usuda Ume, the kindergarten's teacher at the time, though the record phrases this as something handed down rather than as documented fact. Usuda had studied at a nursery-teacher training course attached to a girls' school in Sendai and kept up a friendship with its principal, Miss Ranson. Friedrich Fröbel's kindergarten method, built around a graded set of wooden geometric "gifts," was circulating widely in Japanese early-education circles in those years, and the building reads as an argument made in timber.
What the Designation Covers
The listing is for one structure, counted as a single mune (棟). The 302.16 square metres include the main body with its domed playroom, roughly 267.77 square metres, and a porch of about 34.40 square metres added in 1955 to give a second escape route after the Tokachi-oki earthquake of 1952. The porch is later than the rest and looks it, but it belongs to the building's working life and was counted in.
A Century of Small Beginnings
The kindergarten grew out of a mission. Oi Asakichi arrived in Obihiro in 1895 as an evangelist of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican church in Japan, and a congregation formed the following year with Sunday worship and a Sunday school. In 1911 that congregation opened Obihiro's first kindergarten in an annexe of the church, naming it Futaba-en. Oi's sister-in-law Usuda Ume took the post of full-time teacher.
Forty to fifty children enrolled each year, and the annexe grew tight. The new building opened in 1922; classes moved in the following April.
What happened afterwards can be read from the objects still in the building. In 1927 the kindergarten received one of the American friendship dolls sent to Japan that year, a blue-eyed doll named Betty Jane Rose, and she is still there. In 1945 the army requisitioned the premises as a medical-supplies store. Approval to reopen came from the Hokkaido government in 1946. Three principals in direct succession carried the school through: Oi, then Usuda from 1927, then Usuda Tokiko from 1958.
Registration as a Tangible Cultural Property came in 2010, the first in Obihiro. The centenary was celebrated in 2011. In 2013 the kindergarten held its hundredth graduation ceremony and closed. Former staff and supporters spent the following years sorting the construction drawings, subscription ledgers and daily childcare journals that had accumulated in the building, and that paper trail is a large part of why the case for Important Cultural Property status could be made at all.
Visiting: A Short Season, Weekends Only
The building is now looked after by the NPO Futaba-no-Tsuyu, named after the opening line of the old school song. It opens for a season rather than year-round. In 2026 the gates opened on 2 May and the final day is 31 October, with admission on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only, from 10:00 to 15:00. Obihiro winters close it entirely, so a January visit means looking through the fence.
There is no fixed admission charge. Visitors are asked instead for a voluntary contribution towards upkeep, from 300 yen per share, which goes to opening the building, repairing damage and keeping the grounds and trees in order. Some tourism listings quote a flat adult fee of 300 yen; the organisation's own notice describes it as a contribution, so carry a few coins and follow the sign at the entrance.
Once inside, the playroom is the reason you came. Original window glass survives in places, with the faint waviness that gives it away. Fröbel gifts, childcare journals, sports-day records and photographs are laid out in the classrooms, though volunteers have said that not everything recovered from the building has been catalogued yet. A garden lies behind the building, screened by trees.
The playroom's acoustics have made it a small concert venue. Recitals, chamber programmes and exhibitions run through the season, and the rock band Spitz recorded a performance here that later aired on television, which brought a wave of visitors who had never heard of the place. Check the organisation's event page before you travel, since a booking may occupy the room on the day you arrive.
Getting There
From JR Obihiro Station the building lies about 1.3 kilometres to the northeast, a walk of roughly sixteen minutes, or six minutes by car. Tokachi Bus services from the station-front terminal stop at Higashi 4-jo 9-chome after a ride of seven to eight minutes. Rental bicycles operate in central Obihiro during the warmer months and suit the flat grid of streets well.
Photography rules are not published online. Assume the exterior is fine and ask the volunteer on duty before photographing interiors or exhibits.
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Q&A
- Can you go inside the Former Futaba Kindergarten Building, and when is it open?
- Yes, during the open season. In 2026 the building opens from 2 May to 31 October, on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only, 10:00 to 15:00. It is closed through the winter. Dates shift slightly year to year, so confirm on the NPO Futaba-no-Tsuyu website before travelling.
- How much does it cost to enter the Former Futaba Kindergarten Building?
- There is no fixed ticket price. The managing organisation asks visitors for a voluntary contribution towards maintenance, from 300 yen per share, and you may give more than one share. Some travel listings quote 300 yen as an adult admission fee, which is a reasonable amount to have ready.
- How do I reach the Former Futaba Kindergarten Building from Obihiro Station?
- Walk northeast for about 1.3 kilometres, roughly sixteen minutes. By car it is about six minutes. Tokachi Bus services from the station-front terminal reach the Higashi 4-jo 9-chome stop in seven to eight minutes.
- What is unusual about the playroom in the Former Futaba Kindergarten Building?
- It is octagonal in plan and open all the way to a dome, with a ring of high windows around the base of the dome bringing light in from every side. Four classrooms attach to four faces of the octagon. This playroom-at-the-centre layout was one of the standard plans for modern Japanese kindergartens, and few Taisho-era examples remain.
- What can you see inside the Former Futaba Kindergarten Building besides the architecture?
- A blue-eyed doll named Betty Jane Rose, received in 1927 as part of the American friendship-doll exchange, along with Fröbel teaching gifts, childcare journals, sports-day records and photographs covering a hundred years of the school. Cataloguing is ongoing and not everything is on display.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Futaba Kindergarten Building (旧双葉幼稚園園舎) |
|---|---|
| Location | Higashi 4-jo Minami 10-chome 9, Obihiro, Hokkaido |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | 31 July 2017 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber frame, iron-sheet roof, building area 302.16 m² |
| Owner | Nippon Sei Ko Kai, Diocese of Hokkaido |
| Public Access | Open early May to end of October, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, 10:00 to 15:00. Managed by NPO Futaba-no-Tsuyu. Voluntary contribution from 300 yen. |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Former Futaba Kindergarten Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/00004990
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Futaba Kindergarten Building
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/222744
- Obihiro City: Nationally Designated Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.obihiro.hokkaido.jp/bunka/rekishi/bunkazai/1011019/1005208.html
- NPO Futaba-no-Tsuyu (managing organisation)
- https://futabanotuyu.com/
- Obihiro Tourism and Convention Association
- https://obikan.jp/post_spot/19741/
Last verified: 2026.08.27