Former Bank of Japan Kyoto Branch

A Meiji Bank by Tatsuno Kingo

The Former Bank of Japan Kyoto Branch (旧日本銀行京都支店) is a brick bank building of 1906 in Hishiyacho, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on March 12, 1969 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a two-storey brick building with a partial basement and a slate roof, covering 884.4 square metres, with the former vault designated alongside it; designation number 01708.

Designed by Tatsuno Kingo and Nagano Uheiji

According to the Museum of Kyoto, the Former Bank of Japan Kyoto Branch was designed by Tatsuno Kingo, often called a father of modern Japanese architecture, with his pupil Nagano Uheiji, and completed in 1906.

It is a two-storey brick building with a partial basement; stone is mixed into the walls for variety, and a tower and other touches show the designer's distinctive style (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency's commentary from the time of designation notes that in 1967 it passed to an archaeological foundation and was being used as a museum.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency describes it as well preserved for a building of its kind and a representative Western-style building of the middle Meiji era. The Museum of Kyoto notes that it was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1969 as a leading Western-style building of the Meiji period.

What to Look For

Look for the red brick walls enlivened with bands of stone and the tower on the roofline (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by Kyoto Prefecture (Agency for Cultural Affairs) and is preserved and open to the public as the annex of the Museum of Kyoto, one of the landmark buildings of the Sanjo-dori townscape district (Museum of Kyoto). Check the museum for opening hours and fees.