Meiji
Ibaraki · 明治Browse Ibaraki’s cultural heritage from the Meiji period (1868 – 1912). Filter by type and keyword, with concise stories, maps, and travel tips.
A run-of-river hydro plant of 1911 in Takahagi and Kitaibaraki, Ibaraki. Its 9 structures, built throughout in reinforced concrete, were designated in 2008.
A timber assembly hall of 1904 in Hitachiota, Ibaraki, the only survivor of three built to one set of prefectural drawings. Carved capitals, plasterwork, access.
A timber schoolhouse of 1904 in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki, the first old-system middle school building in Japan made an Important Cultural Property. Spire, arches, access.
A 1920 shoin wing and an early Meiji storehouse at the Former Sakano Family Residence in Joso City, Ibaraki, became an Important Cultural Property in 2023.
Located in Ushiku, Ibaraki, the former brewery of Château Kamiya was completed in 1903 as Japan's first authentic wine château, founded by entrepreneur Kamiya Denbei. The Storage Cellar and Fermentation Room — brick structures designed around Bordeaux techniques and a gravity-fed vertical workflow — form the production heart of the complex, with twenty-six massive fermentation barrels still in place. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 2008, the buildings now welcome visitors as the Kamiya Denbei Memorial Hall, free of charge.
On the dramatic cliffs of Izura in northern Ibaraki stands the former residence and garden of Okakura Tenshin (1862–1913), the thinker who shaped modern Japanese art. Visitors can see his self-designed home, the vermilion Hexagonal Hall (Rokkakudō) rebuilt after the 2011 tsunami, a moss-and-pine garden, and the sweeping Pacific bays of Daigoura and Shōgoura — a National Registered Monument of rare cultural and scenic value.
Tucked away in the historic post town of Takabu in Hitachiomiya City, Ibaraki, Yokoen is a pond-and-stroll garden created by sake brewer Okayama Sentaro in the mid-Meiji era. Modeled on Mito's famed Kobuntei pavilion at Kairakuen, the garden and its three-story Kiu-tei pavilion are designated nationally registered cultural properties.
A mid-Meiji tea shop of storehouse construction in Yuki, Ibaraki. Its walls carry an ochre sand-rubbed finish, and it was moved back bodily when the road widened.
The Arakawa Family Residence Stone Storehouse of 1909 stands at the northeast corner of the plot, its east gable framing an opening beneath a bracketed hood.
Dating from 1868, the Arakawa Family Residence Inner Storehouse is the oldest building on its Shimodate plot and carries a pine and crane plaster relief.
Late Meiji in date, the Arakawa Family Residence Former Shop Storehouse was hauled aside in 1933 when Route 50 was widened. Its exterior is seen from the pavement.
Built in 1892 for the Aratame wholesale house in Shimodate, the Arakawa Family Residence Main House graded its reception rooms by the visitor's rank. It is closed.
Once one of 10 storehouses flanking a trolley rail in Shimodate, the Arakawa Family Residence Storehouse alone survives, its doors standing 2.7 meters high.
Built in 1907 at Shimodate, the Arakawa Family Residence Shop Storehouse opens almost its whole upper front to the street. It still trades as a liquor shop.
Iseya Ryokan Main House is a mid-Meiji inn in Makabe, Ibaraki, registered in 2000. Its upstairs rooms have alcoves and the roof is hipped west, gabled east.
Iseya Ryokan Storehouse is a mid-Meiji dozo of 15 square meters in Makabe, Ibaraki, registered in 2000. Its plaster doors and tiled south wall reward a slow look.
A gatehouse of 1899 in Makabe, Ibaraki, 16.5 meters long, with a zelkova doorway and lower walls of namako-kabe tilework, recorded as the only such gate in the town.
An L-shaped shop and dwelling of the early Meiji era at Makabe, Ibaraki, 235 square meters in area, with a smoke vent on the ridge and a low Edo-period profile.
An early Meiji gatehouse at Iizuka in Makabe, Ibaraki, 9 ken across, with a grain store on one side, a barn on the other, and wicket doors beside the posts.
A single-bay yakuimon gate of the early Meiji era on the Iizuka road in Makabe, Ibaraki, with shinkabe wing walls and doors turning on wooden warza bearings.