Shōwa
昭和Browse Japan’s cultural heritage from the Shōwa period (1926 – 1989). Filter by prefecture, type, and keyword, with concise stories, maps, and travel tips.
The Hatakoshi Family Residence Storehouse in Matsumoto, Nagano, is a two-storey earthen storehouse raised in 1933, begun by one generation and finished by the next.
The Hatakoshi Family Residence Archive Storehouse in Matsumoto, Nagano, is a 1931 earthen storehouse with namako-kabe walls and decoratively framed gable windows.
The Hatakoshi Family Residence South Gate in Matsumoto, Nagano, is an early Showa side gate of the kabukimon type, set in the fence along a southern lane.
By the gateway of the ryokan Hanaya, the Hanaya Hotel Front Building of about 1929 shows a 10 ken frontage with railed upper windows and eaves transoms.
Linking wings at the ryokan Hanaya, the Hanaya Hotel North Connecting Corridor is an early Showa walkway 15 metres long, with log posts and open flanks.
West of the main building at the ryokan Hanaya, the Hanaya Hotel Building 50 was added in the early Showa years and holds two detached guest rooms in sukiya style.
An early-Showa covered walkway to the main building at Hanaya Hotel. Some 22 metres long under a gabled copper roof, log posts and curved beams form a sukiya-style link.
An early-Showa covered walkway from the office wing to the large bath at Hanaya Hotel. About 18 metres long, open at the sides, bark-edged posts make a sukiya passage.
A guest wing of about 1950, south of the central hall at Hanaya Hotel. Its three rooms use prized timber, including black persimmon in the thresholds, around the alcoves.
The Bridal Senka Mimura Shop in Suwa, Nagano, a timber shop of 1929 with a geometric Western-style front, shapes the street with the Mimura shop next door.
The Exhibition Hall of the Furuta Akira Memorial Museum in Shiojiri, Nagano, is an early Showa storehouse with namako walls below and wide glazed rooms upstairs.
The gate of the Furuta Akira Memorial Museum in Shiojiri, Nagano, an early Showa bracketed gate with flanking walls, keeps a traditional right-angled approach.
The corridor of the Furuta Akira Memorial Museum in Shiojiri, Nagano, an early Showa link on sloping logs, is lined with slanted glass doors in a light sukiya style.
Hozoji Temple Rear Gate in Azumino is a small 1928 side gate with a curved roof, roofed flanking walls, a flowing-water transom and a cloud pendant in sukiya style.
A 1961 three-storey Oya stone lacquer workshop in Narai, Shiojiri, Nagano, registered in 2013, built for Kiso lacquerware with a pedimented gable.
The Mampei Hotel Alps Wing in Karuizawa, designed by Kume Gonkuro and opened in 1936, pairs Alpine half-timber with Shinshu farmhouse detail. Still a working hotel.
A timber community hall in Shiojiri, Nagano, built by residents in three months in 1947 with local shrine timber, registered in 2014 and still in use today.
Completed in 1928 and registered in 2011, this Suwa shopfront hides a plain timber house behind a Western-looking arched screen. A cafe bistro opened inside in 2024.
Completed in 1939 above Matsumoto, this stone arch sabo dam curves on a 30-metre radius, stands 15 metres high, and still traps sediment. It was registered in 2024.
A c.1936 bracket-arm gate beside the main house entrance in Misato, Azumino, with single-plank studded doors, a shachi ridge ornament and angled sleeve walls.