Former Army 44th Infantry Regiment Ammunition Magazine

A Brick Magazine with Iron-Clad Doors

The Former Army 44th Infantry Regiment Ammunition Magazine (旧陸軍歩兵第四四連隊弾薬庫) is a brick ammunition magazine of the former army of the late Meiji period in Akebonocho, Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on February 27, 2023 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey brick building with a tiled roof and a building area of 156 square metres, altered in the mid-Showa period; registration number 39-0306.

Brick Walls Half a Metre Thick

The ammunition magazine stands on the former army site in western Kochi, facing east; it is a single-storey brick building under a hipped roof entered on the long side, with a lean-to of boarding and sliding doors along the front (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Its outer walls are about 50 centimetres thick; inside, three board-floored rooms under board ceilings sit on a raised floor to keep out damp, and the double doors under segmental arches are clad in iron sheet (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered it as a model of design.

What to Look For

Look for the half-metre brick walls and the iron-clad doors under segmental arches (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency calls it a rare, almost complete Meiji-period magazine.

Visiting

It is owned by Kochi Prefecture (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to the conservation and use plan drawn up by the prefecture in March 2026, the magazine and lecture hall were long used as warehouses. The plan is to make the site a place to learn the facts of the war and feel the value of peace: the grounds are to be open for free viewing on opening days, and the interiors of both buildings open to visitors who book in advance. No opening date has been given.