Meiji

The Sanmon Gate of Jigenji Temple in Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture, is a registered tangible cultural property built in 1892, featuring a magnificent two-story structure with intricate dragon and crane carvings. The temple is famous as the site of the 1868 Ojiya Conference, a pivotal moment in the Boshin War, making it a must-visit destination for history and architecture enthusiasts.

The Shūseian storehouse in Tokimizu, Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture, is a Meiji-era earthen kura originally built by the Hoshino family. Featuring exceptionally thick timbers and a robust ox-beam structure designed for heavy snowfall, it was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2022. Together with a teahouse named by the renowned military physician and tea master Ishiguro Tadanori, it preserves the merchant heritage of Echigo.

The Sōsendō Kashiten Nishi-Dozō is a nationally registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1887 in the castle town of Murakami, Niigata Prefecture. This Meiji-era earthen storehouse features distinctive black lacquer plaster bands and finely crafted doors, standing as part of a confectionery shop compound with roots in the Edo period amidst one of Japan's best-preserved historic townscapes.

The main hall of Dairinji is the third on its site, rebuilt in 1883 after fire and war. A plain six-room Zen frame reserves its carved brackets for the altar zone.

The Takahashi Ameya Main Building in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, is the historic home of Japan's oldest continuously operating candy shop, founded in 1624. This Meiji-era timber townhouse features a distinctive gangi covered walkway and lattice windows characteristic of snow-country merchant architecture, earning its registration as a National Tangible Cultural Property. The shop's signature awa-ame candy was a tribute to the Imperial Household, and the tradition of candy-making continues under the 14th-generation proprietor.

Built in 1875, the No. 1 Rice Storehouse at the Ninomiya Residence in Seiro runs some 32 meters. Its plastered wall records a thousand-hectare landowner's wealth.

The No. 1 Storehouse at the Ninomiya Residence in Seiro, built in 1875, is a two-story vault whose gable bears the family crest: a landowner's document store.

The Gate and Wall of the Ninomiya Residence in Seiro began as an 1877 row-house gate. A 1935 rebuild raised the entrance and added a roofed wall along the road.

The No. 5 Storehouse at the Ninomiya Residence in Seiro, built in 1908, ends a row of four vaults. Its lattice base and plaster shutters set the line's rhythm.

The Miscellaneous Storehouse at the Ninomiya Residence in Seiro, built in 1875, is a small vault near the grounds' western edge, its planks framing the rear garden.

The No. 3 Storehouse at the Ninomiya Residence in Seiro, built in 1901, is a two-story vault. A lattice base and a plaster crest at the gable mark a careful granary.

Northeast of the main house, this simple gabled shelter of 1885 covered a well used for daily washing; a glimpse of estate life, it now works as a tea cafe.

A two-story kura of 1887 on the estate's west side, linked by corridor to the main house, with white-plastered walls, kannon doors and a partitioned interior.

South of the main house, this 1889 reception hall opens onto a 32-mat room and a long veranda facing the strolling garden, famous for its autumn colour.

North of the main house, this 1883 building was raised to mill timber for the estate itself; 18 metres long under a gabled roof, it now serves as the shop.

A study and tea room of 1891 designed by the head Ito Bunkichi himself, on a triangular plan nine metres a side, with rooms and timber members cut to match.

Northwest of the main house, this 1901 storehouse was once a rice store and now the museum's gallery, with a cut-stone plinth, namako walls and a trussed roof.

The residential core of the former Ito estate, completed in 1887 and now the heart of the Northern Culture Museum, with a 30-metre Aizu cedar beam overhead.

At the quiet western rear of the estate, this sukiya-influenced parlor of 1889 uses fine timber and soft sand-plaster walls, a gentler note than the main house.

At the estate's northern edge, this 1883 workshop, where carpenters built and repaired the buildings, is a rare surviving construction facility with tall posts.