Matsusaka City Cultural Properties Center (Former Kanebo Matsusaka Mill Cotton Yarn Warehouse)

A Brick Mill Warehouse of 1923

The Matsusaka City Cultural Properties Center (松阪市文化財センター), registered as the former cotton yarn warehouse of the Kanebo Matsusaka Mill, is a brick building of 1923 at Sotogomagari-machi, Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture, built as a spinning mill warehouse. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on June 25, 2002 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a single-storey brick building with a steel-sheet roof and a building area of 1,044 square metres, registration number 24-0044, owned by Matsusaka City.

From Spinning Mill to Heritage Centre

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the building was put up as the raw cotton warehouse of the Matsusaka branch of Kanegafuchi Spinning. Kanko Mie notes that it later belonged to the Kanebo Matsusaka cotton yarn mill, which stopped work in 1993.

Kanko Mie adds that Matsusaka City acquired, strengthened and restored the building for use as exhibition rooms, a gallery and storage for the heritage centre, and that the mill site was laid out as Suzu-no-Mori Park by citizens' groups and the city.

The Matsusaka City Cultural Properties Center holds the haniwa from the Takarazuka No. 1 Tumulus in Mie Prefecture, designated a National Treasure on August 27, 2024 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its Haniwa Hall displays them, including a boat-shaped haniwa 140 centimetres long (Kanko Mie).

Value as a Registered Cultural Property

The Matsusaka City Cultural Properties Center was registered as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it keeps its long exterior of English-bond brickwork with pilasters, and that the inside is open as a gallery.

What to Look For

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the main block is about 74 metres long and 10.6 metres wide, divided lengthwise into 4 rooms, with a lean-to canopy along the front.

The long red-brick walls in English bond, lined with pilasters, are the highlight (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Kanko Mie).

Visiting

Kanko Mie gives opening hours of 9:00 to 17:00, closed on Mondays (or the next day when Monday is a holiday), the day after public holidays and over the New Year. Admission to the Haniwa Hall is 110 yen for adults and free for those aged 18 and under, with special exhibitions charged separately; please check details before visiting.

It is about 25 minutes on foot from Matsusaka Station (JR and Kintetsu), or by Suzunone Bus to Kuragi Bunka Hall (Kanko Mie). The address is 1 Sotogomagari-machi, Matsusaka City.