Former Tsujikawa Post Office

Former Tsujikawa Post Office: A Taisho-Era Treasure in the Land of Yokai

In the quiet countryside of Fukusaki Town in Hyogo Prefecture stands a charming two-story wooden building that whispers stories of a bygone era. The Former Tsujikawa Post Office (旧辻川郵便局), built in 1923, is a delightful example of pseudo-Western architecture (擬洋風建築) — a uniquely Japanese style that flourished when craftsmen interpreted Western forms through traditional carpentry techniques. Today, this nationally registered tangible cultural property has been beautifully reborn as a book cafe themed around Japanese yokai folklore and as a boutique hotel room, offering visitors a rare chance to literally step inside a piece of living heritage.

Historical Background

The story of this building is inseparable from the Miki family, who served for generations as ōshōya (head village officials) under the Himeji Domain. The Miki family had moved to the Tsujikawa area of Fukusaki in 1655 from Shikamatsu (present-day Shikama in Himeji), and over the centuries became the political and cultural heart of the region.

In 1922, Miki Setsuji (三木拙二), the ninth-generation head of the family, was appointed postmaster of Tsujikawa Post Office. To house this important community institution, he had the present building constructed the following year, in 1923 (Taisho 12). The carpenter responsible was Takahashi Yoshimatsu. From the very start, the building served not only as a post office but also as a telephone exchange — a symbol of the modernization sweeping through rural Japan in the Taisho era.

The building was renamed "Fukusaki Post Office" in 1956, and traces of this later history remain to this day in the lettering on the entrance door. Postal services moved to a new location in 1960, but telephone exchange operations continued here until 1967, after which the building gradually retired from active service.

In November 2015, the Miki family donated the building to Fukusaki Town. To preserve and reactivate it, the town carried out a careful relocation in March 2019, moving the structure from its original site immediately west of the Miki family residence to its current location nearby, where it now anchors a heritage tourism precinct.

Why It Was Designated a Cultural Property

On July 8, 2008, the Former Tsujikawa Post Office was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property (建造物). In the same year, it was also designated as a Hyogo Prefecture Important Building for Landscape Formation. The reasons for these designations lie in its architectural rarity and craftsmanship.

The building is recognized as an outstanding example of a pseudo-Western post office — a genre of small-scale civic architecture that briefly flourished in Japan during the Meiji and Taisho periods, when local carpenters skillfully blended Western motifs with Japanese building traditions. Few such postal buildings survive today, and even fewer retain such a wealth of original decorative detail.

What sets this building apart is the loving attention to ornamentation. The entrance porch eaves bear sculpted spiral patterns (渦紋), and the porch ceiling is decorated with a stylized postal symbol "〒" — a playful, almost whimsical use of the very emblem of the building's purpose. Carved chrysanthemums and cherry blossoms accompany these motifs, and delicate beaded pendant ornaments (瓔珞) line the edges of the eaves. Together, these details transform a modest civic building into a small architectural jewel.

Architectural Highlights

The building is a wooden two-story structure with a hipped roof clad in pantiles (寄棟造桟瓦葺), with a building footprint of approximately 91 square meters. Its exterior walls are finished in horizontal clapboard siding (下見板張), painted in soft, warm tones that evoke the romantic mood of the Taisho era. Double-hung sash windows are arranged symmetrically on both floors — a clear nod to Western architectural fashion.

Step closer to the entrance and the building's character truly comes alive. Look up at the porch ceiling and you will discover the postal symbol "〒" rendered as a decorative motif. The eaves above the entrance and even the original notice board are each topped with subtly different carved boards, no two quite alike. This kind of artisanal playfulness is one of the great pleasures of visiting the site.

Inside, the original counter where postal clerks once served the community has been preserved on the first floor, while the second floor — formerly the telegraph and telephone exchange room — retains its period feel. The window glass on the entrance door still bears the lettering "Fukusaki Post Office," a poignant trace of the building's later identity.

A Living Heritage: Yokai Book Cafe and Boutique Inn

What makes a visit here especially memorable is that this is not a roped-off museum but a building you can actually enter and enjoy. On May 15, 2021, the first floor opened as the "Yokai Book Cafe" (妖怪ブックカフェ). The cafe stocks around 200 books on Japanese folklore and yokai (supernatural creatures), including works by the famed folklorist Yanagita Kunio (柳田國男), who spent part of his childhood at the neighboring Miki family residence. Visitors can sip coffee or juice while leafing through illustrated yokai picture books, surrounded by the gentle creak of Taisho-era floorboards.

The second floor has been carefully renovated into two guest rooms operated as part of "NIPPONIA Harima Fukusaki Zosho no Yakata" — a boutique inn that lets guests sleep within a heritage building. The room numbered 202, in particular, was once the postmaster's office. Spending a night here is a uniquely intimate way to experience Japanese architectural history.

The Surrounding Area

The Former Tsujikawa Post Office sits along the historic "Silver Horse Road" (銀の馬車道), an old route that once carried silver from the famous Ikuno Silver Mine to the port of Shikama. Today the area is a treasure trove of heritage and folklore.

Just next door stands the Miki Family Residence (三木家住宅), a Hyogo Prefecture designated important cultural property and the childhood home of Yanagita Kunio. A short walk away is Tsujikawayama Park (辻川山公園), beloved for its quirky yokai statues — including a Kappa that periodically rises from the pond and a Tengu that flies overhead. The town has embraced its association with Yanagita and his folkloric legacy by populating the streets with charming yokai sculptures.

Other nearby attractions include the Yanagita Kunio Memorial Hall (柳田國男・松岡家記念館) and the dramatic Nagusa Falls (七種の滝) located in the wooded hills to the north of town. For travelers exploring Hyogo beyond Himeji Castle, Fukusaki offers a quieter, deeper encounter with rural Japanese culture.