A publishing house in three buildings
Konkokyo Tosha (金光教徒社, Konkōkyō Tosha) is the publishing house of the Konkōkyō faith, with offices facing the headquarters in Otani, Konkō-chō, Asakuchi City, Okayama Prefecture; its west, east and central buildings, built between 1916 and 1927, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 27 October 2017.
The company handles the faith's books and its newspaper, the Konkō Shinbun. The National Diet Library holds issues of its ten-day newspaper Konkō Kyōto from 1951 onward.
The oldest, the west building, went up in 1916 as the office of the Konkōkyō newspaper company. The east building followed in 1921, and in 1927 the central building filled the gap between them. Otani grew as the gate town of the Konkōkyō headquarters, and the faith's institutions have long set the tone of its streets.
Three takes on Western style
The buildings stand in an east-west row, with the east building facing north onto the headquarters plaza. All three share the same frame, two timber storeys under a hipped slate roof, yet each dresses its Western look differently.
The west building keeps to plain weatherboarding (Shitami-itabari) with boarded eaves. The east building sets weatherboarded walls on a dressed-stone foundation around a symmetrical front with a central entrance. The central building alone wears mortar painted to look like stone, with a tall parapet hiding its roof. From the plaza you can compare all three in a single glance.
The east and central buildings were registered as models of design, and the west building as a contributor to the historic landscape.
Visiting and access
The Konkokyo Tosha buildings remain in use by Konkōkyō, and no announcement of interior opening was found. The exteriors can be seen from around the plaza in front of the headquarters. As these are working offices, keep to viewing from outside and ask staff before photographing on the premises.
According to Okayama Kanko Web, run by the prefecture's tourism federation, the Konkōkyō headquarters are about 5 minutes on foot from JR Konkō Station on the Sanyō Line, or about 10 minutes by car from the Kamogata interchange on the Sanyō Expressway. The headquarters provide parking for worshippers.
The spring and autumn grand festivals in April and October, and the first three days of the New Year, bring large crowds, and Konkōkyō publishes separate traffic-restriction maps for those periods. For an unhurried look at the buildings, pick another day.
References
- Konkokyo Tosha West Building | Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012040
- Konkokyo Tosha East Building | Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012038
- Konkokyo Tosha Central Building | Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012039
- Recommendation for registration of the Konkokyo Tosha buildings | Asakuchi City
- https://www.city.asakuchi.lg.jp/page/2081.html
- Konkokyo Tosha, publisher of the newspaper Konko Kyoto | National Diet Library Search
- https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000000055905
- Facilities of the Konkokyo Headquarters | Konkokyo official site
- https://www.konkokyo.jp/headquarters/facilities/
- Access to the Konkokyo Headquarters | Konkokyo official site
- https://www.konkokyo.jp/headquarters/access/
- Konkokyo Headquarters | Okayama Kanko Web
- https://www.okayama-kanko.jp/spot/detail_11573.html
Last verified: 2026.09.24
Basic Information
| Name | Konkokyo Tosha |
|---|---|
| Location | 325-3 Otani, Konkocho, Asakuchi City, Okayama Prefecture, and other locations |
| Owner | Religious Corporation Konkokyo |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (3) |
| Coordinates | 34.53870, 133.62469 |
