Kunimi No Yakata (Former Mihara County Office)

Kuniumi-no-Yakata (Former Mihara County Office): Awaji Island's Oldest Pseudo-Western Building

Tucked into the rolling hills of Awaji Island, surrounded by an English-themed agricultural park, stands a graceful wooden building that once served as the seat of local government for the entire Mihara region. Built in 1884 during the early years of Japan's Meiji era, the former Mihara County Office is the oldest surviving county office building in all of Hyogo Prefecture, and the oldest example of pseudo-Western architecture (gi-yofu kenchiku) on Awaji Island. Today, lovingly restored and renamed Kuniumi-no-Yakata, it offers international visitors a rare window onto the moment when Japan first began to weave Western architectural ideas into its own building traditions.

A Building Born of an Era of Change

The Meiji period (1868–1912) was a time of breathtaking transformation in Japan. After more than two centuries of relative isolation, the country opened its doors to the West and embraced modernization with extraordinary speed. New government structures were created, new institutions established, and across the nation, county offices (gun-yakusho) were built to serve as the administrative heart of newly organized regions.

Constructed in 1884 (Meiji 17), the Mihara County Office was one of these key local government buildings. It stood as the visible face of modern administration for the southern part of Awaji Island, an area steeped in mythology yet rapidly modernizing. For decades, the building witnessed the daily work of officials, the deliberations of local assemblies, and the gradual evolution of community life on the island.

The Charm of Pseudo-Western Architecture

What makes Kuniumi-no-Yakata particularly fascinating is its architectural style: gi-yofu, or "pseudo-Western" architecture. Early Meiji carpenters, trained in centuries-old Japanese building techniques, were suddenly asked to design Western-looking civic buildings. Without formal training in European styles, they relied on woodblock prints, photographs, and their own ingenuity to interpret what Western architecture should look like, creating buildings that are neither fully Japanese nor fully Western but rather a sincere and charming hybrid all their own.

The two-story main wing is built in the kirizuma (gabled) style with a traditional tile roof, while the rear annex is a single-story structure with a hipped-roof of pan-tiles. The exterior walls are clad in horizontal lap siding, with vertical boards at the four corners cleverly carved to imitate the cornerstones of Western masonry buildings. The front entrance porch is the most ornate feature: paired columns, one square and one round, support a triangular pediment decorated with relief carvings on its gable face. Inside, a central corridor on the ground floor separates rooms on either side, a staircase rises on the right, and the second floor opens into what was once the council chamber.

Why It Was Designated a Cultural Property

On October 23, 2008, the building was officially registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan, recognized as a structure that "serves as a model of design." The designation reflects several layers of value: the building is the oldest extant county office in Hyogo Prefecture, the earliest surviving pseudo-Western building on Awaji Island, and an essential reference point for understanding the development of public architecture across the Awaji region during the Meiji era.

The path to designation was not an easy one. The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995 caused such severe damage that the building had to be completely dismantled. Rather than allowing this rare survivor of early Meiji civic architecture to be lost, careful documentation and reconstruction work followed, and in 2007 the building was painstakingly relocated and rebuilt at its current site within Awaji Farm Park England Hill, where it could be properly preserved and shared with the public.

What to Look For When You Visit

Visitors are encouraged to take their time and notice the small architectural details that reward a careful eye. The pediment above the front porch, with its sculpted relief, is a clear nod to Greek and Roman classicism filtered through a Japanese craftsman's imagination. The contrast between the square and round columns flanking the entrance, the imitation cornerstones along the corners of the building, and the elegantly proportioned windows all reflect the playful experimentation that defined this transitional period in Japanese architecture.

Step inside to feel the modest yet dignified scale of a regional government office of the 1880s. The ground-floor central corridor still guides visitors through a symmetrical floor plan, and the upper-floor council chamber evokes the deliberations once held there. Standing within these walls, you can imagine the civic optimism of a young, modernizing Japan, far from the great cities of Tokyo or Yokohama, expressing itself through this rural island's most important public building.

The Setting: An Island of Myths and Meadows

The building's new home, Awaji Farm Park England Hill, takes its theme from England's Lake District, with rolling green pastures, flower gardens, and friendly farm animals. The park's name reflects its romantic English-countryside atmosphere, but the building's name reaches in a very different direction: Kuniumi means "the birth of the nation," referring to the ancient Japanese creation myth in which Awaji Island was the very first land brought into being by the gods Izanagi and Izanami. The juxtaposition is delightful: a Meiji-era building styled after Western forms, situated in an English-themed park, named after the most ancient of Japanese myths, all on an island where the legendary story of Japan's birth begins.

Surrounding Attractions

Awaji Island offers a remarkable range of experiences within easy reach of Kuniumi-no-Yakata. England Hill itself spans an enormous area divided into the Green Hill Area, home to koalas, rabbits, and a tropical greenhouse, and the England Area, where lakeside views, seasonal flower fields of nemophila, sunflowers, and cosmos, and farm-to-table dining await. Beyond the park, visitors can explore Onokoro Island Park to learn more about the Kuniumi myth, soak in the seaside hot springs of Sumoto, marvel at the dramatic Naruto Whirlpools from Fukura Port, or visit Izanagi Shrine, said to enshrine the very deities who created the Japanese islands. The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge to the north and the Onaruto Bridge to the south make Awaji Island a natural pause on any journey between Honshu, Shikoku, and the Kansai region.