Meiji

An 1880 hall of three bays square beside the main hall at Meisekiji in Seiyo, Ehime, its pyramidal roof capped in bronze and its canopy rafters cut to a curve.

Standing at the entrance of Meiseki-ji, the 43rd temple of the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage in Ehime Prefecture, the Niomon is a striking three-by-two-bay irimoya-style two-story gate. Distinctive red tiles, dragon-adorned ridge tiles, and rare Fujin and Raijin guardian statues make it a fascinating example of regional temple architecture. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2007, it preserves the artistic and spiritual heritage of southwestern Shikoku.

The Main Hall of Meiseki-ji Temple in Seiyo City, Ehime Prefecture, serves as the principal building of the 43rd sacred site on the Shikoku Pilgrimage and was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2007. Constructed between 1882 and 1890 by master carpenters of the Ikata school, this five-bay-square hall features a striking red Sekishu-tile roof and an elaborate karahafu front porch adorned with intricate carvings of dragons, phoenixes, and mythical beasts. Discover a thousand-year-old temple where the heritage of Genko-zan Enshu-in Meiseki-ji meets the finest craftsmanship of Meiji-era religious architecture.

The Mori Family Residence Onari Gate and Wall in Saijo, Ehime, is a bracket-post gate of about 1864 with a 25-metre wall along the highway. Registered in 2023.

The Yatsuzuka Family Residence Storehouse, a Meiji kura moved to Matsuyama in 1936, has black plaster walls and a four-layer door. Registered 2015; closed.

The Yamauchi Family Residence Storehouse of 1897 in Shikokuchuo, Ehime, carries a plaster dragon high on its road wall. Moved here in 1959, registered 2011.

A late-Meiji wooden clinic on a Kawanoe street corner in Shikokuchuo, Ehime. Registered in 2001, it shows hammer-beam gables and unusually fine stickwork.

Built around 1900 at Masaki in Ainan, Ehime, Warabioka Family Residence Main House covers 228 square meters and still carries its bengara-painted woodwork.

South of the main house at Masaki in Ainan, Ehime, the 1900 Warabioka Family Residence Storehouse packs an okiyane roof and a namako-kabe dado into 27 square meters.

The 1900 Warabioka Family Residence Nagayamon Gate runs 26 meters along a village lane at Masaki in Ainan, Ehime, alternating exposed posts, plaster and boarding.

A run-of-river hydro plant of 1911 in Takahagi and Kitaibaraki, Ibaraki. Its 9 structures, built throughout in reinforced concrete, were designated in 2008.

A timber assembly hall of 1904 in Hitachiota, Ibaraki, the only survivor of three built to one set of prefectural drawings. Carved capitals, plasterwork, access.

A timber schoolhouse of 1904 in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki, the first old-system middle school building in Japan made an Important Cultural Property. Spire, arches, access.

A 1920 shoin wing and an early Meiji storehouse at the Former Sakano Family Residence in Joso City, Ibaraki, became an Important Cultural Property in 2023.

Located in Ushiku, Ibaraki, the former brewery of Château Kamiya was completed in 1903 as Japan's first authentic wine château, founded by entrepreneur Kamiya Denbei. The Storage Cellar and Fermentation Room — brick structures designed around Bordeaux techniques and a gravity-fed vertical workflow — form the production heart of the complex, with twenty-six massive fermentation barrels still in place. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 2008, the buildings now welcome visitors as the Kamiya Denbei Memorial Hall, free of charge.

On the dramatic cliffs of Izura in northern Ibaraki stands the former residence and garden of Okakura Tenshin (1862–1913), the thinker who shaped modern Japanese art. Visitors can see his self-designed home, the vermilion Hexagonal Hall (Rokkakudō) rebuilt after the 2011 tsunami, a moss-and-pine garden, and the sweeping Pacific bays of Daigoura and Shōgoura — a National Registered Monument of rare cultural and scenic value.

Tucked away in the historic post town of Takabu in Hitachiomiya City, Ibaraki, Yokoen is a pond-and-stroll garden created by sake brewer Okayama Sentaro in the mid-Meiji era. Modeled on Mito's famed Kobuntei pavilion at Kairakuen, the garden and its three-story Kiu-tei pavilion are designated nationally registered cultural properties.

A mid-Meiji tea shop of storehouse construction in Yuki, Ibaraki. Its walls carry an ochre sand-rubbed finish, and it was moved back bodily when the road widened.

The Arakawa Family Residence Stone Storehouse of 1909 stands at the northeast corner of the plot, its east gable framing an opening beneath a bracketed hood.

Dating from 1868, the Arakawa Family Residence Inner Storehouse is the oldest building on its Shimodate plot and carries a pine and crane plaster relief.