A Steel Hall Beside the Great Shed
Just west of Workshop No.17 stands its steel-framed neighbor, Workshop No.34, completed in 1939. A single-story building with a ridge of 43.9 meters and a span of 15.5 meters, it covers a floor of 714 square meters and shares the industrial vocabulary of the halls around it.
The two buildings sit side by side at the center of a large railway works, and together they form the core of the grounds as they look today.
Why It Is Registered
The roof is a steel Pratt truss under a gable, with a butterfly clerestory raised along the top to bring daylight into the shop. Built entirely in steel at the end of the 1930s, No.34 shows how the works turned to metal framing for its later halls, a step on from the timber and concrete of earlier decades.
It was registered in 2012 for its part in the historic industrial landscape, valued not on its own but as one voice in a working ensemble of railway buildings.
What to Notice, and How to See It
Read No.34 together with No.17 and the pairing tells a story of materials and dates: concrete beside steel, one hall vast and one more modest, both lit from above in the same manner. The rhythm of the butterfly roof and the exposed steel truss reward a slow look.
The works is active railway property and closed to casual visitors. It opens to the public once a year around Railway Day in October for the event known as Kisha Poppo Matsuri, when a shuttle train runs from Tadotsu Station into the grounds; group tours can sometimes be arranged in advance. Because dates shift from year to year, confirm the current schedule with JR Shikoku before setting out.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Kagawa
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near JR Tadotsu Factory Workplace No. 34
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Q&A
- How does No.34 relate to No.17?
- It stands directly west of Workshop No.17, and the two together form the visual core of the Tadotsu Works.
- What is it built of?
- It is a steel-framed single-story building of 1939, with a steel Pratt truss and a butterfly clerestory for light.
- How big is it?
- The ridge runs 43.9 meters with a span of 15.5 meters, over a floor of 714 square meters.
- Can it be visited?
- It sits within an active JR Shikoku works and is closed to casual visitors, though the grounds open once a year around October.
Basic Information
| Name | JR Tadotsu Works Shokuba No.34 (Workshop No.34) |
|---|---|
| Location | 983-2-Kō, Ōdōri, Tadotsu, Nakatado District, Kagawa |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registered 13 August 2012 |
| Registration No. | 37-0388 |
| Count | 1 building |
| Built | 1939 (Shōwa 14) |
| Structure | Single-story steel building, slate roof, floor area 714 sq m; steel Pratt truss, ridge 43.9 m, span 15.5 m, with a butterfly clerestory |
| Owner | Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) |
| Access | Active railway works, not open to casual visitors; annual public open day around October |
References
- 国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009392
- 文化遺産オンライン ＪＲ多度津工場職場三四号
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/239805
Last verified: 2026.07.03