Former Monopoly Bureau Ajino Salt Office Yamada Branch Archive

A Brick Archive behind the Office

The Former Monopoly Bureau Ajino Salt Office Yamada Branch Archive (旧専売局味野収納所山田出張所文庫) is a brick archive with a segmental-arched window of 1908, restored in 2007 in Yamada, Tamano City, Okayama Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 28, 2011 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey brick building with a tiled roof and a building area of 27 square metres; registration number 33-0251.

Brick against Dressed Stone

According to an Okayama Prefecture Tourism Federation article, it is a salt monopoly office on the riverbank in Yamada, once a thriving salt-producing district, and is attributed to the temporary building department of the Ministry of Finance.

The archive, of 1908, stands east of the office: a gabled brick building 6.0 by 4.5 metres with a tiled roof (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Stone steps lead to a door on the west, and a segmental-arched window is set in the middle of the gable.

Inside it has a board floor, exposed Western-style trusses and plastered walls. Dressed stone placed at key points makes a striking contrast with the brick (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape.

What to Look For

Look for the segmental-arched window in the gable and the contrast of brick and dressed stone (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by Tamano City (Agency for Cultural Affairs). No official information on visits was found. The office building and archive are introduced together on the Former Monopoly Bureau Ajino Salt Office Yamada Branch page.