Shōwa

Discover Kobe College's stunning Okadayama Campus, featuring 12 Spanish Mission-style buildings designed by William Merrell Vories in 1933. This rare architectural masterpiece—the only complete Vories campus designated as Japan's Important Cultural Property—survived WWII and the Great Hanshin Earthquake. Learn about visiting opportunities, architectural highlights, and nearby attractions.

Discover the American House (Former Hamway Residence), a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Kobe's historic Kitano Ijinkan district. This early Showa period Western-style residence showcases exceptional architectural design and stands next to the famous Moegi-no-Yakata.

Discover the Oishi Family Residence in Toyooka City's Tanto area - a remarkable collection of 15 traditional farm buildings dating back to 1875. Learn about these registered cultural properties showcasing Meiji-era rural architecture in Hyogo Prefecture.

Discover the Kinosaki Onsen Ropeway Onsenji Station, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1962. This architectural gem connects visitors to the ancient Onsenji Temple while offering stunning views of Japan's most famous hot spring town.

Discover the Kinosaki Onsen Ropeway Summit Station, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property featuring Michelin-starred views, Kurobe Dam construction techniques, and mid-century modern architecture atop Mt. Daishi.

Discover the Kinosaki Onsen Ropeway Base Station, a 1962 Registered Tangible Cultural Property featuring distinctive vault-style architecture. This gateway to Michelin-starred views connects ancient Onsenji Temple with panoramic vistas of the Sea of Japan, offering a unique blend of modern design and traditional onsen culture.

Explore the nationally registered cultural property of Kuroda Seiemon Shoten's outer wall in Miki City, Hyogo. This Edo-era merchant house preserves Japan's traditional hardware industry heritage along the historic Yunoyama Kaido road.

Built directly on the 135th meridian east — Japan's Standard Time Meridian — the Akashi Municipal Planetarium is Japan's oldest astronomical science museum, opened in 1960. Registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property, it houses Japan's longest-operating Carl Zeiss Jena planetarium and a 54-meter clock tower with panoramic observation decks, offering an unforgettable journey through time and space.

Built in 1927 and designed by architect Kataoka Yasushi, Ashiya Buddhist Hall is a nationally registered cultural property blending modern architecture with Eastern and Indian motifs. Featuring innovative earthquake-resistant construction, lotus stained glass, and nearly a century of Buddhist lectures, it stands as an icon of Hanshinkan Modernism along the scenic Ashiya River.

Atago Bridge spans the Otani River in the heart of Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture. Built in 1926 as part of the reconstruction following the devastating 1925 Kita-Tajima Earthquake, this reinforced concrete pedestrian bridge features an elegant bow-shaped arch adorned with lantern pillars and giboshi finials in traditional Japanese style. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2015, Atago Bridge serves as the gateway to Atago Shrine and forms an iconic part of Kinosaki's famous willow-lined riverscape.

Originally built in 1937 as a disaster recovery project following the devastating Muroto Typhoon, the former Kaimei Ordinary Elementary School is a three-story reinforced concrete building with a distinctive ship-like silhouette. Its semi-cylindrical staircase tower, strong horizontal window canopies, and L-shaped plan make it an outstanding example of early Showa school architecture. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2007, the building preserves a prewar imperial portrait safe and WWII bullet scars on its perimeter wall.

The former Osho Village Hall in Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, is the first government building designed by Togo Murano, one of Japan's most celebrated modern architects and a recipient of the Order of Culture. Completed in 1937, this three-story reinforced concrete structure features distinctive brown tile walls, decorative reliefs of eagles and griffins, and an inventive floor plan. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property, it embodies the prosperity of a village once known as the richest in Japan.

A 1933 bracket-arm gate on a street in Ashiya Midorigaoka: gabled pantiles, copper eaves and adze-marked board doors. Registered 2024. A private home.

Ō-bashi (King's Bridge) spans the Ōtani River in the heart of Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture. Built in 1927 as part of the post-earthquake reconstruction following the devastating 1925 Kita-Tajima Earthquake, this reinforced concrete road bridge features towering granite pillars crowned with stone lanterns and bronze-decorated balustrades inspired by shrine and temple architecture. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2015, the bridge stands before the iconic Ichi-no-yu bathhouse and defines the scenic identity of one of Japan's most beloved hot spring towns.

Built in 1927 as a social hall for the merchants of Hyogo-no-tsu, the Former Okakata Club is a nationally registered tangible cultural property that miraculously survived both the Kobe air raids of WWII and the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995. This Secessionist-style Western building preserves the memory of Hyogo-no-tsu's prosperity and will reopen as the Kobe City Historical Archives in June 2026.

The Former Maya Kanko Hotel (Mayakan), nestled on the slopes of Mount Maya in Kobe, is an Art Deco reinforced concrete building completed in 1929. Known as the 'Queen of Ruins' for its graceful, curving silhouette enveloped by mountain forest, it became the first ruin in Japan to be registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2021. Discover the fascinating history and architectural beauty of this iconic heritage site.

Discover Former Yamatoya Ryokan, a 1927 wooden three-story inn on Kinosaki's Yu-no-Sato Street. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2017, it embodies the elegant post-earthquake reconstruction streetscape of Japan's beloved 1,300-year-old hot spring town.

The First Flying Cage at the Oriental White Stork Conservation and Breeding Center in Toyooka, Hyogo—known as the 'Cage of Promise'—is a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property where Japan's captive stork breeding program began in 1965. Discover the inspiring history of this facility and the remarkable success story that has brought over 500 storks back to Japan's skies.

Discover the Kobe Golf Club Clubhouse, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on Mt. Rokko designed by W.M. Vories in 1932. Explore the history of Japan's oldest golf course, its refined Western-style architecture, and the legacy of founder A.H. Groom.

Discover the Kobe University Martial Arts Hall, known as Kanteido. Built in 1935 as a dojo for the former Kobe University of Commerce, this Registered Tangible Cultural Property is the university campus’s only modern Japanese-style building and still serves today’s kendo, judo, and karate students.