Former Goten Water Source Office

The Office of Takamatsu's First Modern Waterworks

The Former Goten Water Source Office (旧御殿水源地事務所, Kyū Goten Suigenchi Jimusho) is a single-storey timber office building of 1917 at the old waterworks in Tsuruichi-cho, Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 7 May 1997.

The Goten water source was the purification plant built to give Takamatsu a modern water supply. According to the Kagawa Prefecture Regional Water Supply Authority, it began supplying water on 1 September 1921, the 40th modern waterworks in Japan. From the start until 1986, this building served as its office and night-duty room.

It is L-shaped in plan, with the entrance set at the outside corner on the southeast, under a Yosemune-zukuri hipped roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles. The owner is the Kagawa Prefecture Regional Water Supply Authority, and the building now serves as the information hall (the former office) of the Takamatsu City Waterworks Museum.

Why It Was Registered

The Former Goten Water Source Office carries registration number 37-0006, made in the 2nd round of the registration system on the same day as the neighbouring pump house, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that, though small and single-storeyed, it shares the design of the pump house, and that the two together are cherished as symbols of modernisation. Piped water changed daily life in the city, and the building that fronted the works survives in close to its original form.

The Goten waterworks was chosen by the then Ministry of Health and Welfare as one of Japan's 100 notable modern waterworks in 1985. In 2016 the storehouse, the east manhole of the collection conduit, the north gateposts and the retaining wall were registered as well, bringing the site's registered structures to 6.

What to Look For

A Corner Entrance Under an Arched Gable

The Former Goten Water Source Office is entered at the outer corner of its L. The water authority points out the transom window above the door and the gracefully arched bargeboard over the porch, which together show the Taisho-era blend of Japanese and Western building.

Horizontal Boards and a Brick Base

The walls are clad in horizontal boarding over a flush wall, with vertical boards on the dado. The foundation is Western in style: granite at the base and brickwork in English bond above it, its corners strengthened with stone. The cladding matches the pump house, which is where the shared design the Agency mentions can be seen.

Two Figures for the Floor Area

The Agency's register gives a building area of 145 square meters. The water authority gives 122.41 square meters for the original building and records an annex of 88.81 square meters added in 2019. The published sources do not explain the difference.

Visiting

The old Goten waterworks is open as the Takamatsu City Waterworks Museum from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed from 29 December to 3 January, with free admission. It may close at short notice when weather warnings are issued for Takamatsu. The annex of the Former Goten Water Source Office houses toilets and a baby-care room, and both the office and the pump house have ramps.

Groups, and anyone wanting to use the site for something other than a visit, such as a photo shoot, must apply in advance to the General Affairs Section of the authority's Takamatsu Block Centre. The working Goten purification plant immediately to the south is strictly off limits.

The address is 1360 Tsuruichi-cho, Takamatsu. Kozai Station on the JR Yosan Line is about 30 minutes' walk via Goten Bridge, and the Gotobashi stop of the Kotoden Bus Shimokasai line about 20 minutes' walk. By car it is about 12 minutes from JR Takamatsu Station, with dedicated parking on the north side of the site.