Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Okayama

Baiso Honkan is a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Kojima, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture. Built in 1907 as a seaside villa by the grandson of legendary salt baron Nozaki Buzaemon, it features exquisite sukiya-style architecture with a sencha tea room and thatched roof. Now operating as a popular udon restaurant, visitors can dine amid Meiji-era elegance while enjoying views of the Seto Inland Sea.

Completed in 1905, the Handayama Distribution Reservoir No. 1 in Okayama City is one of Japan's rare circular distribution reservoirs and a nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property. Discover this beautiful Meiji-era industrial heritage of red brick and granite, nestled within the seasonal splendor of Handayama Botanical Garden.

Discover the Former Office of Handayama Water Distribution Site, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property from 1905 nestled within Okayama's Handayama Botanical Garden. Part of Japan's 8th modern waterworks system.

Discover the Handayama Water Distribution Reservoir No. 3, a registered tangible cultural property in Okayama. Built in 1919, this rare circular brick-and-concrete reservoir remains in active service within the beautiful Handayama Botanical Garden.

Discover the Handayama Original Metering Room, an elegant hexagonal brick structure built in 1905 as part of Japan's 8th modern waterworks system. This Registered Tangible Cultural Property features classical Western-inspired design with granite-framed round windows, set within Okayama's beautiful Handayama Botanical Garden.

The Additional Metering Room at the Handayama Water Distribution Reservoir in Okayama City is a hexagonal reinforced concrete structure built in 1939. Located within the Handayama Botanical Garden, this registered tangible cultural property faithfully echoes the design of its 1905 Meiji-era predecessor while employing Shōwa-period materials. It is part of a remarkable ensemble of historic waterworks structures from Japan's eighth modern water supply system.

Discover Handayama No. 2 Reservoir, a rare circular brick-and-concrete waterworks facility built in 1905 in Okayama. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property, this Meiji-era engineering gem still operates today within the beautiful Handayama Botanical Garden.

The Himei Family Residence Main House in Kamogata, Asakuchi City, Okayama Prefecture, is the home of a distinguished medical family that served as official physicians to the lords of the Kamogata Domain since the Edo period. Registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2015, this rare hybrid building combines a traditional irimoya-style Japanese residence with a Western-style medical clinic wing, offering valuable insight into the history of provincial medical architecture in Japan.

Located in the Onbara Highlands of Kagamino Town, Okayama Prefecture, the Heisakubara Power Station Onbara Reservoir Dam Spillway is a 132-meter reinforced concrete channel completed in 1928. It safely carries surplus water from the historic Onbara Dam—Japan's oldest hydroelectric buttress dam—down to the Onbara River below. Featuring elegant curves and stone retaining walls, this Registered Tangible Cultural Property is a vital piece of Japan's early hydroelectric heritage.

Tucked into the highland forests of northern Okayama, the Heisakubara Power Station Trunk Waterway Sediment Basin is a modest reinforced-concrete structure completed in 1928. Located about 270 metres downstream of the Onbara Dam — Japan's oldest surviving hydroelectric buttress dam — it forms one essential link in a chain of ten Registered Tangible Cultural Properties that together preserve the engineering legacy of early Showa-era hydropower in rural Japan.

Explore the Hirasakubara Power Plant Head Tank in Kagamino, Okayama — a 1928 reinforced concrete water tank that powers Chugoku Electric's second-oldest hydroelectric facility, registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2006.

Discover the elegant 1928 granite retaining walls of Hirasakubara Power Station in Kagamino, Okayama. These 68-meter stone structures support Japan's oldest surviving hydroelectric buttress dam system in stunning mountain scenery.

Set on the Onbara Plateau at 700 meters elevation in Kagamino-cho, Okayama Prefecture, the Main Building of the Hirasakubara Power Station has been generating electricity continuously since 1928. This functional reinforced concrete structure was designated a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2006, together with nine related facilities including the historic Onbara Dam, Japan's oldest surviving buttress dam built for hydroelectric generation, forming one of the country's most comprehensive industrial heritage ensembles.

Mid-Meiji retaining walls and a stone fence at the Akibagu of Hofukuji, Soja: 3.0 m walls in 3 masonry styles line a long stairway up to the shrine. Registered 2009.

Five identical stone shrines of 1892 in a row on a long stone platform behind the Akibagu sanctuary at Hofukuji in Soja, Okayama. Registered in April 2009.

A minimal purification pavilion of 1894 at the Akibagu of Hofukuji, Soja: stone posts, timber arms and a gabled roof over a stone basin cut with an ogee-arched base.

The mid-Meiji worship hall and connecting hall of the Akibagu at Hofukuji, Soja: a 5-bay hall with stacked gables and a rear wing of ceremony and altar rooms.

A mid-Meiji shrine sanctuary at Hofukuji in Soja, Okayama: a single bay square, just 6.1 square meters, with bracket sets and cloud-dragon carvings. Registered 2009.

The mid-Edo Founder's Hall of Hofukuji in Soja, Okayama: a 3-bay pyramid-roofed hall on a walled terrace, its altar framed by Zen-style three-stepped brackets.

Stone walls and a tile-capped earthen wall of 1806 around the Founder's Hall at Hofukuji, Soja: the clay is left at its middle coat, not whitened. Registered 2009.