The Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse
The Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse (旧高田農業倉庫, Kyū-Takada Nōgyō Sōko) in Shinmachi, Bungotakada City, Oita Prefecture, is a group of rice warehouses centred on a North Storehouse built in 1937. Three of its buildings, the North, East and North Small Storehouses, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on April 28, 2010 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). All three belong to Bungotakada City and now form the Showa Roman-gura visitor complex.
According to the Agency, the North Storehouse was put up beside the railway station of the day to hold rice from the Kunisaki Peninsula. Bungotakada was served by the Usa Sangu Railway until 1965, and a map in the city's plan filed with the Cabinet Office labels today's bus terminal as the former Usa Sangu Railway (Bungotakada central urban area revitalization plan). The city tourism site says the warehouses were built as rice stores by the Nomura zaibatsu, counted among the wealthiest families in Oita from the Meiji to the Showa era.
The Three Buildings
All three buildings of the Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse are single-storey clay-walled storehouses with tile roofs (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The North Storehouse faces south and runs 46 metres, with trowelled lettering on its gable. The East Storehouse stands on the east side of the site facing west, its hipped roof carrying three raised vents (Koshi-yane). The North Small Storehouse, north-east of the North Storehouse, is half-hipped (Half-hipped roof) at the east and gabled at the west.
The site also has an unregistered timber South Storehouse, converted into a restaurant in April 2006 (Bungotakada City). Each registered building is described on its own page.
From Rice Store to Showa Roman-gura
Bungotakada began reviving its half-shuttered main shopping street as a townscape of the Showa 30s under the name Bungotakada Showa no Machi. A timeline in the city's plan filed with the Cabinet Office dates the start to 2001 and the opening of the Showa Roman-gura, made by refurbishing the Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse, to 2002.
In the regional revitalization plan also filed with the Cabinet Office, the East Storehouse holds the Dagashiya no Yume Museum and other attractions, and the North Storehouse was to open as the Showa no Yume-machi Sanchome-kan on April 29, 2007. Today the complex also includes the teamLab Gallery Showa no Machi (Bungotakada City).
Visiting
The Showa Roman-gura in the Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse opens from 10:00 to 17:00 on weekdays and from 9:00 to 17:00 at weekends and on public holidays, and closes on December 30 and 31. A two-venue ticket for the Dagashiya no Yume Museum and the Sanchome-kan costs 900 yen for adults; a three-venue ticket adding the teamLab gallery costs 1,200 yen. The mock-up classroom and the souvenir corner are free (Bungotakada City).
By rail, get off at Usa Station on the JR Nippo Line and take a Daiko Hokubu bus from the station for about 10 minutes to the Bungotakada bus terminal, which the city describes as the gateway to Showa no Machi. Drivers can use the Showa no Machi car park, 400 yen for a car, free for the first 40 minutes (Bungotakada City).
References
- Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse North Storehouse (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00008223
- Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse East Storehouse (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00008225
- Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse North Small Storehouse (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00008224
- Showa Roman-gura (Bungotakada City official tourism site, Japanese)
- https://www.city.bungotakada.oita.jp/site/showanomachi/15034.html
- Showa no Yume-machi Sanchome-kan (Bungotakada City official tourism site, Japanese)
- https://www.city.bungotakada.oita.jp/site/showanomachi/1418.html
- Dagashiya no Yume Museum (Bungotakada City official tourism site, Japanese)
- https://www.city.bungotakada.oita.jp/site/showanomachi/1415.html
- Bus from Usa Station to Showa no Machi (Bungotakada City, Japanese)
- https://www.city.bungotakada.oita.jp/site/showanomachi/1438.html
- Bungotakada Showa no Machi regional revitalization plan, revision table (Cabinet Office, Japanese)
- https://www.chisou.go.jp/tiiki/tiikisaisei/dai13nintei/plan/31b.pdf
- Bungotakada central urban area revitalization plan, summary (Cabinet Office, Japanese)
- https://www.chisou.go.jp/tiiki/chukatu/pdf_nintei/011.pdf
Last verified: 2026.11.12
Basic Information
| Name | Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 989-1 Oshioda, Shinmachi, Bungotakada City, Oita Prefecture |
| Owner | Bungotakada City |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (3) |
| Coordinates | 33.55783, 131.43901 |
