Meiji

明治

Browse Japan’s cultural heritage from the Meiji period (1868 – 1912). Filter by prefecture, type, and keyword, with concise stories, maps, and travel tips.

5,384 total Meiji Period 1868 – 1912
Showing 1,981 – 2,000 of 5,384
Shin-Mutsu Ryokan Main Building
Aomori 明治
Shin-Mutsu Ryokan Main Building

Shin-Mutsu Ryokan Main Building in Hachinohe, Aomori: a former pleasure-quarter house of about 1897, later an inn, with a skylit stairwell and Y-shaped stair.

Omaesaki Lighthouse: Lighthouse Tower
Shizuoka 明治
Omaesaki Lighthouse: Lighthouse Tower

Lit in 1874 on Cape Omaezaki in Shizuoka, this brick tower carried Japan's first rotating first-order lens. Designated in 2021, it remains open to climb.

Omaesaki Lighthouse: Former Keepers' Quarters
Shizuoka 明治
Omaesaki Lighthouse: Former Keepers' Quarters

Built in 1874 beside the tower at Omaezaki, Shizuoka, this brick house held keepers for 125 years. Designated in 2021, it now displays a rediscovered machine.

Former Totomi Province Hotokusha Public Hall (Dainihon Hotokusha Great Lecture Hall)
Shizuoka 明治
Former Totomi Province Hotokusha Public Hall (Dainihon Hotokusha Great Lecture Hall)

The Hotokusha public hall in Kakegawa, built in 1903 for the Hotoku movement, is Japanese below and Western above, with galleries round an 81-mat hall.

Former Numazu Imperial Villa Gardens
Shizuoka 明治時代~大正時代
Former Numazu Imperial Villa Gardens

On Tōgō Beach in Numazu, the Former Numazu Imperial Villa Garden was an imperial retreat across three eras. Its surviving 26-room West Annex stands amid black pines.

Arai Ryokan Snow Building
Shizuoka 明治
Arai Ryokan Snow Building

Yuki no Mune, an 1899 wing at Arai Ryokan in Shuzenji, sits between two streams from the Hana no Ike pond. Its bath wing has a curved mukuri roof with a smoke vent.

Arai Ryokan Bridge
Shizuoka 明治
Arai Ryokan Bridge

Watari no Hashi is an 1899 roofed drum bridge at Arai Ryokan in Shuzenji, linking Tsuki no Mune and Yuki no Mune. Its gapped board floor reveals the stream as you cross.

Ito City Kinoshita Mokutaro Memorial Museum
Shizuoka 明治
Ito City Kinoshita Mokutaro Memorial Museum

A 1907 merchant house in Ito City, registered in 2015 and open for 100 yen, honouring the poet and dermatologist Kinoshita Mokutaro, born nearby in 1885.

Ume Goten (Plum Villa)
Shizuoka 明治
Ume Goten (Plum Villa)

Ume Goten in Rakujuen park, Mishima, is a sukiya villa of 1890 built for Prince Komatsu, with a plum-wood alcove post and rooms stepped down the slope.

Triumphal Memorial Gate
Shizuoka 明治
Triumphal Memorial Gate

The Triumphal Memorial Gate at Rokusho Shrine in Hamamatsu, built in 1906 for the Russo-Japanese War, is an early brick arch in Shizuoka with sawtooth capitals.

Kangyodo Tunnel
Shizuoka 明治
Kangyodo Tunnel

The Kangyodo Tunnel of 1910 in Atami, Shizuoka, carries the old Atami-Ito road through the Uomizaki headland in cut stone, its portals framed by pilasters.

Kikugawa Red Brick Warehouse
Shizuoka 明治
Kikugawa Red Brick Warehouse

The red-brick warehouse by Kikugawa Station in Shizuoka, a late Meiji tea store, keeps its arched openings and traces of tea blending from the local trade.

Former Nanki Library
Shizuoka 明治
Former Nanki Library

The Former Nanki Library, built in 1899 and moved twice to a hill above Sagami Bay in Atami, is a refined Renaissance-style building with plant motifs in its frieze.

Former Rokusho Family Gate and Wall
Shizuoka 明治
Former Rokusho Family Gate and Wall

The Rokusho family ran a Shingon temple below Mount Fuji until Meiji edicts closed it. Their wide three-bay gate and 43 metres of fence were registered in 2017.

Tsurutani Family Residence Main House
Shizuoka 明治
Tsurutani Family Residence Main House

The Tsurutani shop-house in Kakezuka, Iwata, built around 1884, keeps a projecting front lattice and bracketed eaves that recall the early Meiji town.

Tokaido Headman's House (Koike Residence)
Shizuoka 明治
Tokaido Headman's House (Koike Residence)

The Tokaido Nanushi no Yakata (Koike Family Residence) in Yui, Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka City is the former home of the Koike family, who served as nanushi (village headmen) of Teraō village throughout the Edo period. Built in the Meiji era as a single-story wooden farmhouse, it was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 1998. Features such as namako-tile walls, a large door with a wicket gate, a den-no-ji four-room layout, and a massive central pillar preserve the dignity of a headman's residence and the spirit of the old Tokaido.

Hokoji Temple Imperial Lodging
Shizuoka 明治
Hokoji Temple Imperial Lodging

Moved to Hokoji Temple in Hamamatsu in 1885 from an inn on the Tokaido highway, this residence keeps the raised room and antechamber prepared for the Meiji emperor.

Hokoji Temple Kagura Hall
Shizuoka 明治
Hokoji Temple Kagura Hall

Built in the middle Meiji years at Hokoji Temple in Hamamatsu, this 32-square-metre hall is an open-fronted earthen stage facing the guardian shrine of Hansobo.

Hokoji Temple Kannon Hall
Shizuoka 明治
Hokoji Temple Kannon Hall

Standing west of the Main Hall at Hokoji Temple in Hamamatsu, this Meiji hall of 17 square metres carries a pyramidal tiled roof and houses an image of Kannon.

Hokoji Temple Administrative Office
Shizuoka 明治
Hokoji Temple Administrative Office

Set on a terrace above the kitchen wing at Hokoji Temple in Hamamatsu, this Meiji building houses the office of the administrative head of the branch.