A Pedestal That Outlived Its Statue
The Takihama Yōkan Monument (多木浜洋館記念碑, also written Takihama Yokan Kinenhi) is a stone monument in Befu-cho, Kakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture, completed in 1936 and entered on Japan's register of Tangible Cultural Properties in 2002.
The bronze it was built to carry is no longer there. What stands in the grounds is granite, and a great deal of it. The Agency for Cultural Affairs record gives the plinth as 14 shaku square at the base by 18 shaku high, roughly 4.2 metres across and about 5.5 metres tall in metric terms. The stone came from Kitagi-shima, a small island in the Seto Inland Sea whose quarries supplied pale, close-grained granite to public works all over the country.
Three characters are cut into the base: 肥料主, hiryō-nushi, which reads as something close to "master of fertiliser." The national record credits the brushwork to Saitō Makoto, who held the office of prime minister between 1932 and 1934.
Registration covers the monument as a single "place" with a recorded area of 148 square metres. That figure describes the paved setting and its immediate surrounds rather than the block of stone on its own.
The Fertiliser King of Befu Village
Taki Kumejirō (1859-1942) inherited a family business making fish manure and pushed it somewhere nobody expected. In 1885, working in what was then Befu village, he began producing steamed bone meal, generally counted as the first artificial fertiliser manufactured in Japan. Superphosphate of lime followed. By 1918 the operation had become Taki Seihisho, direct ancestor of today's Taki Chemical, and Kumejirō had picked up the nickname the monument plays on.
He spent the proceeds close to home. The monument stands northwest of the main house of Takihama Yōkan, a four-storey timber guest villa Kumejirō raised near the mouth of the Befu River and named Dōhikaku. Roof and outer walls alike are sheathed in copper sheet, which is why Kakogawa residents have called the place Akagane Goten, the copper palace, for generations. Sea air long ago turned the metal a dull brown-green, so the name now asks a little imagination of the visitor.
The Kakogawa Tourism Association records that the bronze figure was surrendered during the wartime metal collections and never replaced. The sheer scale of the surviving base is the one remaining clue to how large that statue must have been.
Why a Statue Base Became a Cultural Property
Japan runs two parallel systems for architectural heritage. Designation is reserved for the small number of buildings held to be of the highest national value and comes with strict controls on alteration. Registration, a lighter instrument introduced in 1996, addresses the far larger stock of structures around fifty years old or more that give a place its character. The Takihama monument entered the register on 21 August 2002 under the criterion covering works that contribute to the historical landscape of the nation, with public notice following on 3 September. Its register number is 28-0109.
It did not go in alone. Four elements of the compound were registered the same day: the main house, this monument, a stone gate, and a brick wall running fifty-four metres along the northern and western edges of the site. The monument falls under "other structures," the category the Agency applies to gates, walls, chimneys and comparable works rather than to buildings.
The official description calls the design simple and bold, and that holds up in person. There is almost no ornament. The granite is cut square, stacked, and left to carry its effect through mass alone, a very different decision from the copper filigree and stained glass of the villa a short walk away. Hyogo Prefecture added the compound to its list of important structures for landscape formation in 2020.
Seeing It in Person
The grounds belong to the Taki Gakuen school corporation, which received the land and buildings in 1988, and they are not open on a walk-in basis. Entry is by guided tour, held roughly twice a month and usually on weekdays. Tours run about ninety minutes and cost 500 yen per person. Advance booking through Befu Kindergarten is required, the minimum party size is five, and capacity sits at around twenty.
Two practical notes catch people out. Visitors of high-school age and below are not admitted, and group reservations are currently suspended. Photography inside the villa is not permitted; the monument itself stands outdoors, so ask the guide on the day what may be photographed. The upper floors of the villa have no heating or cooling, which is worth remembering in a Seto Inland Sea summer.
Reaching Befu is easy enough. Befu Station on the Sanyo Electric Railway is about fifteen minutes on foot. From JR Kakogawa Station, the Kako Bus stops at Sports Kōryūkan-mae, a few steps from the site. Befu Minato Ryokuchi, a waterfront park laid out on reclaimed land at the old harbour, sits close enough to fold into the same walk.
Stand at the base and look up before you look at the villa. The proportions were calculated for a figure that is not there, and the absence is the most interesting thing about the object.
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Q&A
- Can I visit the Takihama Yōkan Monument, and do I need a reservation?
- Yes, but only on a guided tour. The site is private property held by the Taki Gakuen school corporation. Tours run roughly twice a month, mostly on weekdays, last about ninety minutes and cost 500 yen per person. Reservations are made in advance through Befu Kindergarten, and a minimum of five participants is needed for a tour to go ahead.
- Why does the Takihama Yōkan Monument have no statue on top of it?
- The granite base was built in 1936 to carry a bronze figure of Taki Kumejirō, founder of the fertiliser works. According to the Kakogawa Tourism Association, the bronze was surrendered during the wartime metal collections and was never put back. Only the plinth survives, which is what the cultural property register actually covers.
- What is inscribed on the Takihama Yōkan Monument?
- The three characters 肥料主, read hiryō-nushi and meaning roughly "master of fertiliser." The Agency for Cultural Affairs record attributes the calligraphy to Saitō Makoto, prime minister of Japan from 1932 to 1934.
- How do I reach the Takihama Yōkan Monument from Kakogawa Station?
- Take the Kako Bus from JR Kakogawa Station and get off at Sports Kōryūkan-mae, which leaves you beside the site. Coming by private railway instead, Befu Station on the Sanyo Electric Railway is about a fifteen-minute walk. There is parking for those driving.
- Is the Takihama Yōkan Monument a National Treasure or an Important Cultural Property?
- Neither. It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, a separate and lighter category created in 1996 for structures that shape the historical landscape. It was registered on 21 August 2002 together with the villa's main house, stone gate and brick wall.
Basic Information
| Name | Takihama Yōkan Kinenhi (多木浜洋館記念碑) |
|---|---|
| Location | 174 Higashimachi, Befu-cho, Kakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structures); register number 28-0109; other structures |
| Year Designated | Registered 21 August 2002; public notice 3 September 2002 |
| Quantity | 1 place |
| Dimensions | Stone construction, recorded area 148 sq m; plinth 14 shaku square at the base by 18 shaku high (approx. 4.2 m by 5.5 m); Kitagi-shima granite |
| Owner | Taki Gakuen Educational Corporation |
| Public Access | Guided tours roughly twice monthly, mainly weekdays; approx. 90 minutes; 500 yen per person; advance reservation required via Befu Kindergarten; minimum five participants; not open to high-school age and below; no interior photography |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Takihama Yokan Kinenhi
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00002971
- Cultural Heritage Online: Takihama Yokan Kinenhi
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/140241
- Kakogawa City Board of Education: Takihama Yokan, four registered properties
- https://www.city.kakogawa.lg.jp/soshikikarasagasu/kyouiku/kakuka/kyoikushidobu/bunkazai_cyosa/bunkazai/kunitourokukaisetu/31305.html
- Takihama Yokan Dohikaku, official site (Taki Gakuen)
- https://hamayoukan.befu-youchien.com/
- Kakogawa Tourism Association: Takihama Yokan and Befu Port
- https://kako-navi.jp/spot/19143.html
Last verified: 2026.08.26