Kyoto Art Center Main Gate and Wall (former Meirin Elementary School Main Gate and Wall)

About the Kyoto Art Center Main Gate and Wall

The Kyoto Art Center Main Gate and Wall (京都芸術センター正門及び塀（旧京都市立明倫小学校正門及び塀）) is the main gate and wall of the former Meirin Elementary School, built of reinforced concrete in 1931 and renovated in 1999, at the Kyoto Art Center on Muromachi-dori south of Takoyakushi, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on July 8, 2008.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a gate of two reinforced-concrete piers, 2.9 metres wide with side gates on both sides, and a reinforced-concrete wall 25 metres long; registration number 26-0306, owned by Kyoto City. The west, south and north buildings and the main gate and wall of the former Meirin Elementary School were all registered on July 8, 2008 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Kyoto Art Center Main Gate and Wall was registered as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. According to the Kyoto Art Center, the Meirin school buildings date from a major rebuilding of 1931 to designs by the Kyoto City building department, and the conversion into the art centre kept them almost unchanged (Kyoto Art Center).

What to Look For

The main gate of the Kyoto Art Center opens onto Muromachi-dori on the west of the site. Its reinforced-concrete piers are octagonal in section, with pilasters on each angle in a Secession manner, and domed tops (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Smaller piers of the same form flank them as side gates, and the end posts of the wall repeat the design, giving a unified streetscape (Agency for Cultural Affairs). From Muromachi-dori, the octagonal gate piers and wall posts read as one set.

Visiting the Kyoto Art Center Main Gate and Wall

Admission to the Kyoto Art Center is free. It is open 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (galleries, library and information corner until 8:00 p.m.) and closed December 28 to January 4. The auditorium, the great hall, the Japanese room and the studios can be seen only when opened for events, but the library, café and corridors alone give a good sense of the old school (Kyoto Art Center). It is a 5-minute walk from exits 22 and 24 of Shijo Station on the Karasuma subway line or Karasuma Station on the Hankyu line. There is no parking.