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.
Kajikaen Keibaian, a c.1930 guest wing at a former inn in Ome, Tokyo, uses its sloping corridor to give each floor its own entrance, with polished-log alcoves.
Kajikaen Sangyoro, a c.1930 hipped-roof guest wing at a former inn in Ome, Tokyo, pairs an outward-facing alcove with large glass shoji framing the Tama River.
Kajikaen Shazanso, a 1930 guest wing and the largest of 8 buildings at a former inn in Ome, has a 51-mat hall, built-in wardrobes and shelves with convex tops.
Kajikaen Large Bathhouse, an early Showa bathhouse at a former inn in Ome, holds a round tiled tub under wide windows, a river-stone rock bath and a wooden tub.
Kajikaen Chinryutei, a c.1930 guest wing at the lowest point of a former inn in Ome, is entered from above and has no veranda, its rooms open to the Tama River.
Registered in 2020, Kajikaen Watari-Roka is a wooden corridor in Ome, Tokyo, linking four buildings of a former inn down a steep slope by two staircases and a ramp.
A 1930 wooden house in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, drawn by architect Yoji Kanazawa for his father and built by Shimizu-gumi. Registered in 1998 in the scholars' quarter.
A 1930 timber gate with a tiled roof and a 10.7-metre board fence in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. Fine kumiko latticework fills the transom above the tie beam of the gate.
A 29-square-metre weatherboarded studio of 1930 in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, its north-west wall and roof partly glazed. Yoji Kanazawa built it as his own design office.
Built in 1932 in Umegaoka, Setagaya, this 104-square-metre wooden house sets three roof forms over a modern central-corridor plan. Registered in 2009.
A 50-square-metre annexe of 1932 at the rear of a Setagaya plot, holding a ten-mat room with alcove, shelves and writing bay, linked to the main house by a veranda.
A reinforced concrete gateway of 1932 in Umegaoka, Setagaya, with a 2.6-metre opening, pebble-washed surfaces and red panels between pilasters. Registered in 2009.
The 1930 main house of the Kamei Residence in Setagaya, Tokyo, pairs a pantiled Japanese block with a French-tiled Western wing set beside the entrance.
Designed in 1927 by Okada Shin'ichiro, architect of the Kabukiza, this kuri at Gokokuin is a rare Japanese-style work by a modern master, and Kan'eiji's first sub-temple.
East of the main hall stands the Kanda Shrine Shinsenjo, a 19-square-metre food-offering hall of 1934, built in concrete yet finished in red ochre like a sanctuary.
The Kanda Shrine West Gate of 1934 mirrors the east gate beside the treasure house, closing the west face of the sanctuary with paneled doors and low fencing.
The Kanda Shrine Worship Hall of 1934, 335 square metres, is the largest hall at Kanda Myojin: a five-bay porch, a tiled floor for standing prayer, tatami behind.
The Kanda Shrine East Gate of 1934 links the food-offering hall to the worship hall: a 1.8-metre opening, paneled double doors and 14 metres of angled fencing.
The Kanda Shrine Offering Hall joins main hall and worship hall in the 1934 concrete complex, with a tatami floor, gilded columns and brackets in graded colour.
The Kanda Shrine Treasure House of 1934, west of the main hall, recreates a raised log-walled azekura storehouse in concrete, its lowest course carried on brackets.