The Island's Post Office for More Than 40 Years
The Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office (真鍋家住宅旧郵便局舎, Manabe-ke Jūtaku Kyū Yūbinkyokusha) on Manabeshima, Kasaoka City, Okayama Prefecture, is a 2-storey timber post office building completed in 1917 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (No. 33-0108) on March 27, 2006.
Kasaoka City records that the building served as the island's post office from 1918 to 1962. For more than four decades, from the year after it was finished, Manabeshima's mail passed across this counter. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database reflects that history: of the five registered Manabe buildings, this is the only one classed as a government building rather than a house.
The Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office adjoins the west end of the main house's north wall and has a building area of 40 square meters.
Why the Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office Was Registered
The Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency notes that it is one of the few buildings on the island with Western-style design and that it records the island's path into the modern age.
It is also the youngest of the Manabe buildings, which begin with the main house of 1870. In a lane of tiled roofs, its front announces in plain view that a modern national service had reached a small island.
A Western Face on a Japanese Frame
Structurally, the Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office is a conventional 2-storey timber building with a gabled roof (Kirizuma-zukuri) of interlocking pantiles (Sangawara-buki). The Western character lies in the skin: the 2nd-floor walls are finished in mortar and pierced by tall, narrow windows.
The front is the west side, facing the street. A small pent roof (Hisashi) runs along the line between the 1st and 2nd floors, and a gabled porch roof marks the entrance at the center, a public front turned squarely to the lane for the people coming to post letters.
Kasaoka City points out that part of the porch's little gable still shows on the western lane, a remnant of the post office years. On the walk through Honura, that small gable is the thing to look for.
Seeing the Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office
The Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office is part of the family's home and is not open inside. Its west front faces the lane, so the mortar walls and tall windows of the 2nd floor, the pent roof between the floors and the gabled porch can all be seen from there.
Today's Manabeshima Post Office makes a convenient landmark. The Inui-gura storehouse stands immediately south of it, the former post office south of that, and the main house beyond. Keep photographs to what is visible from the lane.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office
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Q&A
- How long was the Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office used as a post office?
- According to Kasaoka City, from 1918 to 1962.
- When was the Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office built and registered?
- It was built in 1917 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 27, 2006, as No. 33-0108.
- What is Western-style about the Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office?
- The exterior: mortar-finished walls with tall, narrow windows on the 2nd floor. The frame beneath is a traditional 2-storey timber building with a tiled gable roof, and the west front adds a pent roof between the floors and a gabled porch.
- Can visitors see the Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office?
- Only from outside. It is part of a private home and the interior is not open, but its west front faces the lane.
- How far is the Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office from today's Manabeshima Post Office?
- Very close. The present post office stands just to the north, with the Inui-gura storehouse between them, so the village post office is still in the same corner it occupied in 1918.
Basic Information
| Name | Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office (真鍋家住宅旧郵便局舎) |
|---|---|
| Location | 4026-1 Manabeshima, Kasaoka City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), No. 33-0108 |
| Year Designated | Registered March 27, 2006 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 40 square meters |
| Owner | Private individual (blank in the national database) |
| Public Access | Interior closed; exterior visible from the lane |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005500
- Cultural Heritage Online (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Manabe Family Residence Former Post Office
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/141268
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Manabe Family Residence Inui-gura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005501
- Kasaoka City: Manabe Family Residence Main House and Other Buildings (Japanese)
- https://www.city.kasaoka.okayama.jp/soshiki/39/2494.html
Last verified: 2026.10.02
