Former Fukko Pottery Works Office: The Street Front of a Porcelain Factory
The Former Fukko Pottery Works Office (旧福幸製陶所事務所, Kyū Fukkō Seitōsho Jimusho) is a timber office building of about 1926 at the former Fukko porcelain works in Isekigo, Hasami-cho, Nagasaki Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on February 23, 2012.
Where the workshops of the Fukko works were built for clay, wheels and drying racks, the office was where the business was run. It sits on the street edge of the grounds, a single-storey building with a partial 2nd floor and a footprint of 124 m², much smaller than the 309 m² forming workshop or the 213 m² painting workshop behind it.
Today the Former Fukko Pottery Works Office houses monné legui mooks, a café-restaurant in the Nishinohara complex. Nagasaki Prefecture notes it was already in use as a café when it was registered.
Why the Fukko Office Was Registered
The registration criterion is contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Former Fukko Pottery Works Office as an early Shōwa office building that gives the street a coherent face. Nagasaki Prefecture goes further and singles out the combination of painted clapboard walls and long runs of glazed windows as a valuable example of office design from the late 1920s.
There is one loose end. The present managers of Nishinohara describe the building that mooks occupies as the shipping room, where finished ware was sent off. Both the national and prefectural records call it the office. The available sources do not settle if it did both jobs or changed use over time.
What to Look For at the Former Fukko Pottery Works Office
The roof is a simple gable (Kirizuma-zukuri) laid with interlocking pantiles (Sangawara-buki), and a lean-to roof (Geya) runs along the south side. Walk round to the north and you find a small gabled projection with its own roof: that was the original office entrance.
The walls are horizontal clapboard (Shitami-itabari) finished in paint, broken by a continuous band of glazed windows. Up close, the overlapping boards and the vertical glazing bars make a neat grid.
Only part of the Fukko office rises to a 2nd floor. From the street, see if you can pick out which section climbs to the upper level.
Visiting the Former Fukko Pottery Works Office
You can go inside the Former Fukko Pottery Works Office as a customer of monné legui mooks. The Nishinohara shop guide lists opening hours of noon to 6 p.m., closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The café does not take telephone reservations; at weekends and during festivals it asks guests to sign in at the counter first and then explore the grounds while they wait.
The exterior can be seen from the paths inside the grounds at any time the site is open. Since the interior is a working restaurant, check with the staff before taking photographs, and keep other diners out of your shots.
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Q&A
- Where is the Former Fukko Pottery Works Office?
- It stands on the street side of Nishinohara, the former Fukko porcelain works in Isekigo, Hasami-cho, Higashisonogi District, Nagasaki Prefecture.
- When was the Former Fukko Pottery Works Office built and registered?
- The Former Fukko Pottery Works Office dates from about 1926 and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 23, 2012.
- Can I go inside the Former Fukko Pottery Works Office?
- Yes. The Former Fukko Pottery Works Office is now the café-restaurant monné legui mooks, open from noon to 6 p.m. and closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Phone reservations are not accepted.
- What are the architectural features of the Former Fukko Pottery Works Office?
- The Former Fukko Pottery Works Office has a tiled gable roof, painted clapboard walls with continuous glazed windows, and a small gabled projection on the north side that was once its entrance.
- How do you pronounce Fukko in the Former Fukko Pottery Works Office?
- The characters 福幸 are read Fukkō, so the Japanese name is Kyū Fukkō Seitōsho Jimusho.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Fukko Pottery Works Office |
|---|---|
| Location | 2185-2 Nishinomae, Isekigo, Hasami-cho, Higashisonogi-gun, Nagasaki Prefecture, and other locations |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered on February 23, 2012 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single-storey with a partial 2nd floor, tiled roof, building area 124 m² |
| Owner | Saikai Toki Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Operates as a café-restaurant (noon to 6 p.m., closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: 旧福幸製陶所事務所
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009241
- Cultural Heritage Online (Agency for Cultural Affairs): 旧福幸製陶所事務所
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/176684
- Nagasaki Prefecture Cultural Properties Database: 旧福幸製陶所事務所
- https://www.pref.nagasaki.jp/bunkadb/index.php/view/414
- Nishinohara: About Nishinohara (Japanese)
- https://24nohara.jp/about/
- Nishinohara: Shops (Japanese)
- https://24nohara.jp/shop/
Last verified: 2026.10.02
