A bank counter on the corner of Gojinyamae-dori
The Former Makabe Post Office (旧真壁郵便局) is a two-story building of 1927 standing at Makabe in Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and it was placed on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 18 October 2000.
It occupies the northwest corner where Gojinyamae-dori meets Takakamicho-dori, the busiest crossing in the old town. The plan is close to square, the elevation runs two full stories, and a strongroom projects from the rear right of the ground floor. Building area is 83 square meters. Windows are set at regular intervals and there is almost nothing else: no order, no cornice worth the name, no ornament around the openings.
How the walls were built is not settled between sources. The Agency for Cultural Affairs register records the Former Makabe Post Office as wire-mesh concrete construction, while Sakuragawa City describes the building as timber-framed and finished on the outside in artificial stone washed back to expose the aggregate, so that it reads as stone facing. Either way the surface is meant to look like masonry, and the flat, quiet result is what the register calls characteristic of design in the early Showa years.
From bank to post office to landmark
The building went up in 1927 as the Makabe branch of the Daigojū Bank, an ancestor of today's Joyo Bank. A branch bank wanted the corner site for the same reason a shop would: everyone in the market town passed it. Ownership changed after the bank left, the premises were put to several uses, and from 1956 to 1986 they housed the Makabe Post Office, one of the small commission-run offices in the old postal network. The name stuck, which is why a former bank is now called the Former Makabe Post Office.
Inside, the changes of use are legible. The banking hall had an open well rising through the second floor. When the post office needed a telephone exchange room, the well was floored over. The strongroom stayed where it was.
Registration under the Registered Tangible Cultural Property scheme came in 2000 on the grounds that the building contributes to the historic landscape. Sakuragawa City puts the case more plainly: the Former Makabe Post Office was the landmark of central Makabe before and after the war, and its interior structure and exterior treatment show what a bank built in a provincial town in 1927 actually looked like. The town around it counts more than 300 traditional shopfront storehouses, earthen storehouses and gates, and in 2010 its center of about 17.6 hectares became an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings, the 87th in the country and the 4th in the Kanto region.
What stands out on a street of storehouses
Makabe is a town of tile, plaster and timber, so the Former Makabe Post Office registers first as an interruption. Walk the approach along Gojinyamae-dori and the eye keeps moving over gabled roofs and dark boarding until it reaches a flat pale wall with square windows punched into it. The building is not large. It simply refuses to do any of the things its neighbors do.
Get close enough to touch the wall, or nearly. The washed-back finish leaves fine aggregate standing slightly proud of the surface, and the texture under raking light is grainy rather than smooth, quite unlike real cut stone. It is a finish that repays a minute of attention, and it is the reason the two accounts of the structure can both sound plausible.
Look up at the second floor windows on the corner and think about the well that used to be behind them. A double-height banking hall in a building of this footprint would have been the grandest interior in Makabe. The telephone exchange took it away after 1956, and the loss is part of why the Former Makabe Post Office reads as a modest building today.
Visiting the Former Makabe Post Office
The Former Makabe Post Office is owned by Sakuragawa City, which publishes rules for its use as a municipal historic building, and it is opened to the public rather than kept locked. Whether the doors are open on any given day depends on how the building is being used, so it is worth calling the city's commerce and tourism section on 0296-55-1159 before making a special trip. There is no admission charge. During the hina doll season the upper floor becomes one of the display venues, and in 2026 that exhibition ran from 8 February to 28 February.
Photography of the exterior from the street is unrestricted. If you go inside, ask at the desk before photographing, since the rooms are sometimes in use by local groups.
Makabe lost its railway in 1987, so arrival takes a connection. From Iwase Station on the JR Mito Line a taxi runs about 15 minutes, and the Sakuragawa city bus, the Yamazakura GO, also serves the town. Coming from Tsukuba, take the bus to Tsukubasanguchi, about 50 minutes, then change to the city bus for a further 20 minutes. Drivers reach the town in about 20 minutes from the Sakuragawa-Chikusei interchange on the Kita-Kanto Expressway. The crossing outside the building is the natural starting point for a walk: a loop around the old jinya quarter takes roughly 70 minutes at an unhurried pace.
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Q&A
- Can you go inside the Former Makabe Post Office?
- Usually yes, and at no charge. The city owns the building and opens it, but the doors are not open every day, so phone 0296-55-1159 first if the visit matters.
- Was the Former Makabe Post Office really built as a post office?
- No. It opened in 1927 as the Makabe branch of the Daigojū Bank, a forerunner of the Joyo Bank, and only became a post office in 1956, staying one until 1986.
- Is the Former Makabe Post Office made of stone or of wood?
- Neither account calls it stone. The national register records wire-mesh concrete construction; Sakuragawa City describes a timber frame with an artificial stone finish. The surface imitates stone facing in both readings.
- When was the Former Makabe Post Office registered as a cultural property?
- On 18 October 2000, as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, for its contribution to the historic landscape.
- How do I get to the Former Makabe Post Office without a car?
- Take the JR Mito Line to Iwase Station and a taxi for about 15 minutes, or use the Yamazakura GO city bus. From Tsukuba, ride to Tsukubasanguchi in about 50 minutes and change for a further 20 minutes.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Makabe Post Office (旧真壁郵便局) |
|---|---|
| Location | Makabe, Makabe-cho, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2000 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 2 stories, building area 83 square meters |
| Owner | Sakuragawa City |
| Public Access | Open without charge, though not on every day. Call the city before a special trip |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Former Makabe Post Office
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001869
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Makabe Post Office
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/192869
- Sakuragawa City: Former Makabe Post Office
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/education/bunkazai/city_bunkazai/cityregi_bunkazai/page008244.html
- Sakuragawa City: Makabe Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/education/bunkazai/city_bunkazai/kuni_bunkazai/page003423.html
Last verified: 2026.09.05