Bakumatsu and Meiji Museum Annex

A 1932 Gallery Wing in Oarai

The Bakumatsu and Meiji Museum Annex (幕末と明治の博物館別館) is a single-storey reinforced concrete gallery building of 1932 in Isohama-cho, Oarai Town, Higashiibaraki District, Ibaraki Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on February 9, 2005.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a single-storey reinforced concrete building with a building area of 591 square metres; its registration number is 08-0174. At registration it belonged to the Joyo Meiji Memorial Foundation, but according to the museum it was transferred to Oarai Town in 2010, and the Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education now lists the town as owner.

The museum explains that it was founded in 1929 as the Joyo Meiji Memorial Hall by Tanaka Mitsuaki, a late-Edo activist who later became Minister of the Imperial Household. It took its present name, the Bakumatsu and Meiji Museum, in 1997.

Why It Was Registered

The annex was registered as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, it is a single-storey concrete building linked by a corridor to the Seizoden statue hall. The gallery walls have no windows and are rendered as imitation stone with masonry-style joints, divided by square pilasters into a weighty facade.

Dentils run beneath the eaves, and the south side of Gallery 1 alone has windows framed by a row of Corinthian-style columns as an accent (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It is a classical design typical of early Showa memorial buildings.

What to Look For

Outside, look at the windowless imitation-stone walls and the square pilasters that divide them at regular intervals. The masonry-style joints give a concrete building the solid presence of stone.

Then find the dentils under the eaves and the Corinthian-style columns along the south side of Gallery 1. In an otherwise closed facade, this one side opens up with windows and columns. The corridor linking the annex with the Seizoden also reflects the layout of the original memorial hall.

Visiting the Bakumatsu and Meiji Museum Annex

The annex serves as museum galleries and can be seen with museum admission. According to the museum, it opens 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (last entry 4:30 p.m.) and closes on Wednesdays (the next day if Wednesday is a holiday) and over the New Year. Admission is 500 yen for adults, 300 yen for university and high school students and 150 yen for junior high and elementary school students. Some galleries may close during exhibition changes.

From Oarai Station on the Kashima Rinkai Railway, take a taxi (about 5 minutes) or the Kaiyu-go loop bus (about 6 minutes) to the Bakumatsu to Meiji no Hakubutsukan Iriguchi stop. By car it is about 10 minutes from the Mito-Oarai Interchange (museum). Phone: 029-267-2276.