The brick schoolhouse that came with the move to Kyoto

The Heian Jogakuin Meijikan (平安女学院明治館, Meiji Hall) is a two-storey brick school building completed in 1895 on Shimodachiuri-dori in Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto, built when Heian Jogakuin moved from Osaka, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 9, 2004.

The school's chronology places both its Kyoto opening and the completion of Meijikan in 1895. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives 1894 instead, the year the school took its new name and moved to Kyoto; the two records appear to date different stages of the same project.

The architect was Alexander Nelson Hansell (1857 to 1940), a British architect working in Japan, and the builder was Shimizu-gumi, today's Shimizu Corporation. When new, it was simply called the "main schoolroom" and held the classrooms, staff room and offices of the whole school.

Why it was registered

The Heian Jogakuin Meijikan was registered under the criterion of buildings that serve as a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it one of the earliest examples of the Queen Anne Revival in Japan.

Queen Anne was the fashionable style for school buildings in late nineteenth-century Britain. As the school explains, it left the brick exposed, used sash windows and dressed the roofline with lively gables, rather than facing brick with stone to imitate masonry. Meijikan brought that very current British school idiom to Kyoto.

Hansell arrived in Japan in 1888 and built his practice in the Kobe foreign settlement. His other work includes Harris Hall of Science at Doshisha in Kyoto and the former Hassam House in Kobe.

What to look for

The gables are the show. Three pitched roofs run north to south side by side, and each gable end is finished as a Dutch gable, its top edge traced in reversing S-curves. The Kyoto Tobunkai association counts seven of these distinctive gable walls visible from outside.

Bands of white stone run across the red brick, sharpening the contrast at the line between the two floors. The brickwork is laid in English bond, with specially shaped bricks at the corners, a sign of genuinely skilled masonry.

Inside, an arch leads from the entrance hall into the stair hall. Upstairs, the assembly hall has a boat-shaped ceiling carried on arches supported by hammer beams. In the former rainy-day exercise room at the southwest corner of the ground floor, the brick arches were reinforced with steel in the 2008 renovation. Doors and window frames are painted a soft mint green.

Visiting

The Heian Jogakuin Meijikan is a working school building and is normally closed to visitors; a Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art guide also lists it as not open.

The chance to go inside comes with citywide events such as the Kyoto Modern Architecture Festival. In 2026 it is on the list for October 31 and November 1, and entry requires the paid festival passport. At the 2023 festival photography and posting online were generally allowed as long as no students or staff appeared in the frame. Hours and photo rules change from year to year, so check the official programme first.

The building sits deep inside the grounds and is hard to see as a whole from the street. To stand square to the row of Dutch gables, you will need to be on campus during an opening day.

📍 Plan Your Visit to Kyoto
Find tours, activities & transport passes near Heian Jogakuin Meijikan
[ Kinkakuji Fushimi Inari & Kimono Rental ]

Q&A

QWhen was the Heian Jogakuin Meijikan built?
AHeian Jogakuin dates the completion of the Heian Jogakuin Meijikan to 1895. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives 1894.
QWho designed the Heian Jogakuin Meijikan?
AAlexander Nelson Hansell, a British architect working in Japan. It was built by Shimizu-gumi, the predecessor of today's Shimizu Corporation.
QWhat architectural style is the Heian Jogakuin Meijikan?
AIt is in the Queen Anne style favoured for British schools in the nineteenth century, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs regards it as one of the earliest examples of the Queen Anne Revival in Japan. Its Dutch gables are the most striking feature.
QCan I go inside the Heian Jogakuin Meijikan?
ANormally not. It opens during citywide events such as the Kyoto Modern Architecture Festival; in 2026 it is scheduled for passport entry on October 31 and November 1.
QHow large is the Heian Jogakuin Meijikan?
AIt is a 2-storey brick building with a tiled roof and a building area of 370 square metres. A Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art guide gives the total floor area as 733.87 square metres.

Basic Information

NameHeian Jogakuin Meijikan (平安女学院明治館)
Location178-2 Gochome-cho, Shimodachiuri-dori Muromachi Higashi-iru, Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture
DesignationRegistered Tangible Cultural Property (Building)
Year DesignatedRegistered 2004/6/9 (Heisei 16)
Quantity1 building
DimensionsBrick, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 370 square metres
OwnerHeian Jogakuin Educational Corporation
Public AccessNormally closed (interior shown during events such as the Kyoto Modern Architecture Festival)

References

Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Heian Jogakuin Meijikan
https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004140
Cultural Heritage Online: Heian Jogakuin Meijikan
https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/188870
Heian Jogakuin: About Meijikan (Japanese)
https://head.heian.ac.jp/about/meiji
Heian Jogakuin University: History (Japanese)
https://www.heian.ac.jp/about/history/univ
Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art: Meiji Hall of Heian Jogakuin (MAK en 18)
https://kyotocity-kyocera.museum/wp-content/uploads/MAK_en_18.pdf
Kyoto Tobunkai: Heian Jogakuin (Japanese)
https://www.kyoto-tobunkai.org/catalogue/12.html
Kyoto Modern Architecture Festival 2023: Meijikan, Heian Jogakuin University (Japanese)
https://kyoto2023.kenchikusai.jp/program/detail.php?id=2466
Kyoto Travel Navi (Kyoto City Tourism Association): Kyoto Modern Architecture Festival 2026 (Japanese)
https://ja.kyoto.travel/event/single.php?event_id=7046

Last verified: 2026.09.27