The Main Building at a Glance
The Awashima Maritime Memorial Museum Main Building (Former Awashima Seamen's School Main Building), 粟島海洋記念館本館 in Japanese, is a 2-storey timber school building completed in 1920 on Awashima island in Takuma-cho, Mitoyo, Kagawa Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 7 June 1999.
The Awashima Seamen's School had been training sailors since 1897 when it put up this group of buildings, and the Main Building was the centrepiece. Its upper floor served as the auditorium. The building covers 208 square metres under a tiled roof; its registration number is 37-0020, and it belongs to Kagawa Prefecture.
After the school closed in 1987, the Awashima Maritime Memorial Museum Main Building became the heart of the memorial museum, holding displays on ships and on the school itself.
Why It Was Registered
It was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs treats the building as the island's landmark and points to two features: the clapboard walls (Shitami-itabari) and the half-timbered gable ornament set at the centre of the facade.
Half-timbering shows the wooden frame of posts, beams and braces on the face of the wall, a European look that Japanese builders borrowed freely in this period. Here it is not spread across the building. The designers kept the long walls plain and gathered all the decoration into that one central gable.
The auditorium made this the school's ceremonial hall as well as its office block. That it survived closure and went on working as a museum is part of why it matters.
What to Look For
Start at the centre of the front. The gable ornament sits directly behind the 2 stone gateposts, and taking them in together shows the building doing what it was designed to do: act as the school's front door, facing the sea.
Then look west. The Exhibition Hall next door repeats the Main Building's facade details on its seaward side, so the 2-storey block and the single-storey wing read as one long frontage. This is the ensemble the Agency describes as the school's formal face.
The pale green paint catches every shadow line of the overlapping boards. In low morning or evening light the whole wall turns into fine horizontal stripes.
Visiting the Main Building
The whole museum has been closed for renovation since 24 December 2021, so the interior and the upstairs auditorium of the Awashima Maritime Memorial Museum Main Building cannot be visited. The Mitoyo tourism bureau lists the closure as running until 31 March 2027 (checked September 2026).
You can still see the exterior from the road that runs from Awashima port past the front of the museum toward the shore. Standing at the front of the site on the sea side, the Main Building is the easiest of the five structures to see, and photographs are limited to what that road offers. Ferry details and the museum's overall visiting conditions are on the Awashima Maritime Memorial Museum page.
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Q&A
- When was the Awashima Maritime Memorial Museum Main Building built, and when was it registered?
- It was completed in 1920 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 7 June 1999, under registration number 37-0020.
- Can you go inside the Awashima Maritime Memorial Museum Main Building now?
- No. The museum has been closed for renovation since 24 December 2021, and the Mitoyo tourism bureau lists the closure as lasting until 31 March 2027. The exterior can be seen from the road in front.
- What is on the upper floor of the Awashima Maritime Memorial Museum Main Building?
- According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the upper floor was the school auditorium. It is not open during the renovation.
- What should I look at on the outside of the Awashima Maritime Memorial Museum Main Building?
- The clapboard walls and the half-timbered gable ornament at the centre of the facade. Read them together with the gateposts in front and the matching facade of the Exhibition Hall to the west.
- Is the Former Awashima Seamen's School Main Building the same as the museum's Main Building?
- Yes. The official registration name, 粟島海洋記念館本館（旧粟島海員学校本館）, gives the museum name followed by the school-era name.
Basic Information
| Name | Awashima Maritime Memorial Museum Main Building (Former Awashima Seamen's School Main Building) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1541 Awashima, Takuma-cho, Mitoyo, Kagawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 1999/6/7 (Heisei 11) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 208 square metres |
| Owner | Kagawa Prefecture |
| Public Access | Closed for renovation (scheduled 2021/12/24 to 2027/3/31); exterior viewable from the road in front |
References
- Cultural Heritage Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Main Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001140
- Cultural Heritage Online: Awashima Maritime Memorial Museum Main Building
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/185870
- Mitoyo City: Awashima
- https://www.city.mitoyo.lg.jp/kakuka/seisaku/sangyo/14_1/2434.html
- Mitoyo City: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.mitoyo.lg.jp/kakuka/kyouikuiinkai/shogai/3_1/history_bunnkazai/13938.html
- Mitoyo Tourism Bureau: Awashima Maritime Memorial Museum
- https://www.mitoyo-kanko.com/facility/awashimamuseum/
- Mitoyo Tourism Bureau: Awashima Island
- https://www.mitoyo-kanko.com/awashimaisland/
Last verified: 2026.09.25
