Doshisha
Doshisha (同志社), the campus of the Doshisha school corporation on Imadegawa-dori in Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto, has five brick buildings of 1884 to 1894, the Shoeikan, the chapel, the Yushukan, the Harris Science Hall and the Clark Memorial Hall, each designated an Important Cultural Property, and five Taisho and early Showa buildings, among them the Keimeikan and the halls of Doshisha Women's College, which are Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Five Meiji Brick Buildings
The five designated buildings went up over about ten years; the Shoeikan, the chapel and the Yushukan were designed by Americans, the Harris Science Hall by a Briton and the Clark Memorial Hall by a German. The Shoeikan is the oldest brick building surviving in Kyoto (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency values them individually and as a group for tracing the growth of early Western architecture in Kyoto.
Five Registered Buildings
The Keimeikan west building of 1915 and main building of 1920 were built as the library stacks and main library, and Amherst House of 1932 is a brick-faced building under a gambrel roof. At Doshisha Women's College stand James Hall of 1913, designed by Takeda Goichi, and the Eikokan of 1932 with its octagonal tower (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Each is described on its own page.
Visiting
The buildings are owned by the Doshisha school corporation (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to a Doshisha exhibition leaflet of 2022, the Doshisha Gallery on the upper floor of the Harris Science Hall was open from 10:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30), closed on Mondays and national holidays, with free admission. No official information on visits to the other buildings was found.
References
- Doshisha (Former English School, Seminary and Harris School of Science) (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/1626
- Doshisha Amherst House (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004991
- Doshisha Keimeikan Main Building (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00006538
- Doshisha Keimeikan West Building (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00006539
- Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts James Hall (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00001918
- Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts Eikokan (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00001919
- Harris Science Hall Doshisha Gallery exhibition leaflet (Doshisha, in Japanese)
- https://harris.doshisha.ac.jp/doc/exhibition/kikaku/files/harisu24_a4_nenkou.pdf
Last verified: 2026.10.28
Basic Information
| Name | Doshisha |
|---|---|
| Location | Imadegawa-dori Karasuma Higashi-iru, Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture |
| Owner | Doshisha (school corporation) |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (1) · Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (5) |
| Coordinates | 35.02987, 135.76266 |
