Former Monopoly Bureau Ajino Salt Office Yamada Branch Office Building

A White Clapboard Salt Office by the River

The Former Monopoly Bureau Ajino Salt Office Yamada Branch Office Building (旧専売局味野収納所山田出張所庁舎) is a white clapboarded salt monopoly office of 1908, altered in the early Showa period, 2000 and 2011 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 timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 236 square metres, with a covered passage; registration number 33-0250.

Varied Roofs and White Clapboard

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 office building, of 1908, is a single-storey timber building facing west onto the river (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its main block is a north-south hipped range with a tiled roof; a hipped wing runs east from the south-east corner, a gabled wing projects on the north, and a gabled porch juts out at the front.

The Agency notes that the varied roofs and white clapboard walls give it a bright, light appearance.

Why It Was Registered

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

What to Look For

Look for the gabled porch and the white clapboard walls (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.