A Small Building That Rewards Close Reading
Next to the more famous reading room of the old Sapporo Agricultural College library stands a modest brick box. This is the former library stack, built in 1902 (Meiji 35) to hold the collection. It is small, two stories, with a gabled roof, and at first glance looks like a plain storehouse. The interest lies in the detail work.
The base of the walls is laid in over-burnt clinker brick, darker and denser than ordinary brick, which was often used at ground level for its resistance to damp and wear. Stone is set at key points around the corners, and the coping along the gable ends steps up in stages rather than running as a plain slope. None of this is showy, but it shows a designer thinking carefully about a working building.
Why It Was Registered
Like several neighboring buildings, the stack was designed by Chujo Seiichiro as part of the college's new campus. It was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property on 28 April 2000, with the gazette notice on 25 May, under the criterion recognizing it as a model of its type.
A book stack is functional architecture. Its walls had to be thick and stable to protect a growing library, and brick suited that need in a way timber did not. The survival of a purpose-built stack from the early twentieth century, still paired with the reading room it served, lets visitors read the two halves of a Meiji library as a single idea.
What to Look For
Approach the gable end and follow the coping upward. The stepped stone gives the roofline a crisp, deliberate profile that a smooth line would not. Then look low, at the clinker brick of the base, and notice the shift in color and surface where the darker fired brick meets the standard walling above. The corner stones read as small structural punctuation.
The stack sits on the working Sapporo campus and can be seen from outside as you walk the grounds. It is not open internally. Because it stands beside the former reading room, the two are easy to visit together, and comparing the brick vault with the timber reading hall shows how one building type was solved in masonry and the other in wood.
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Q&A
- What is a library stack?
- It is the storage building for a library's books, built strong and stable to protect the collection. Here it stands beside the former reading room.
- Why is the base a different brick?
- The lower walls use over-burnt clinker brick, harder and darker than ordinary brick, a common choice for the base of masonry buildings.
- Who designed it and when?
- Chujo Seiichiro designed it, and it was completed in 1902 (Meiji 35) as part of the college's new campus.
- Can I see the reading room too?
- Yes. The former reading room stands next to the stack on the same campus, and both exteriors can be viewed together.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Sapporo Agricultural College Library Stack, Hokkaido University |
|---|---|
| Location | Kita 9, Nishi 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (registered 28 April 2000; gazette notice 25 May 2000) |
| Built | 1902 (Meiji 35) |
| Structure | Brick, two stories; building area 119 m²; 1 building |
| Designer | Chujo Seiichiro |
| Owner | Hokkaido University (National University Corporation) |
| Access | Exterior viewable on the Sapporo campus; interior not generally open |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs) — Former Sapporo Agricultural College Library Stack
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001649
- Hokkaido University — official site
- https://www.hokudai.ac.jp/
Last verified: 2026.07.02