Shōwa

Discover Kuriyama Gofukuten, a nationally registered tangible cultural property in Ishioka, Ibaraki. Built around 1932 after the Great Ishioka Fire, this wooden merchant building features stunning kumiko lattice work and represents Japan's early modern architectural heritage.

A shop of 1928 on the old Shimodate highway at Iizuka in Makabe, Sakuragawa, registered in 2003. Hipped roofs, a deep lean-to, glass doors of the early Showa years.

The Jushichiya Footwear Shop in Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture, is a two-story wooden kanban (signboard) architecture building constructed in 1930. As the first building reconstructed after the devastating 1929 fire, it pioneered the kanban architectural style in the district. Featuring Western decorative elements such as Lombardy bands and console-style capitals, it is registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property as a fine example of early Showa commercial architecture.

The Sugaya Cosmetics Store and Residence stands along Nakamachi-dōri in Ishioka, Ibaraki Prefecture, as a prime example of kanban kenchiku (signboard architecture) built after the devastating 1929 Great Fire. This two-story wooden commercial building features Corinthian and Ionic pilasters, a dentil cornice, and a triangular pediment, and was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2005.

The Degawa Family Residence Stone Storehouse of 1937 in Makabe, Sakuragawa, is 6.7 metres long in granite 325 millimetres thick, its long walls dressed edokiri.

The Degawa Family Residence Main House, a 1937 town house in Makabe, Sakuragawa, was registered in 2005. Its 1951 pharmacy front took a shallow hood, not a shop eave

Naka-bashi in Hitachi-Ōta City, Ibaraki Prefecture, is a reinforced concrete single-arch bridge completed in 1937 over the Sato River. Recognized as one of the earliest Lohse-type arch bridges in the Kantō region and northeastern Japan, it was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2003. Locally beloved as Megane-bashi (Spectacles Bridge).

Built in 1930, the Nippon Sei Ko Kai Tsuchiura St. Barnabas Church Chapel is the oldest surviving reinforced concrete structure in southern Ibaraki Prefecture. Designated as a nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2025, this early Showa-era Anglican chapel features a distinctive pointed tower, a historic pedal organ, and beautiful stained glass windows. Discover nearly a century of faith and architectural heritage in the heart of Tsuchiura.

Discover the Bakumatsu and Meiji Museum Annex in Oarai, Ibaraki—a 1932 reinforced concrete building registered as a national tangible cultural property, featuring Corinthian columns and neoclassical design. Explore Meiji-era imperial treasures and samurai heritage.

A wooden inn built in 1929 on a street corner in Makabe, Sakuragawa City. Its entrance canopy, wide upper openings and balustrade mark the trade. Registered 2002.

Raised around 1930 after a fire razed central Ishioka, this two-storey timber shophouse fronts Nakamachi-dori with scratch-tile pilasters. Registered in 2004.

Built in 1928 and spared by the fire that levelled Ishioka a year later, this artificial-stone shopfront is the town's oldest signboard building and still trades.

Built in 1931 on Ishioka's Nakamachi Street, this sugar shop wears the heavy roof of a traditional merchant house, yet its black wall is concrete, not plaster.

The kokugura at Fuchu Homare in Ishioka, Ibaraki, is a wood-frame concrete rice store recording the fire-resistant methods adopted after the great fire of 1929.

In Makabe, Sakuragawa, this early Showa gate of the Masubuchi Hiroichi family blends three gate types, munamon, yakuimon and udegimon, into one design.

Set back within the Masubuchi Hiroichi family lot in Makabe, Sakuragawa, this early Showa dozo storehouse has plastered walls and double-leaf fire shutters.

A reinforced concrete distribution tower built in 1932 in the historic Sannomaru district of Mito, Ibaraki. Designed by waterworks engineer Goto Tsurumatsu, the 21.6-meter cylindrical structure features Gothic-inspired ornament and fire-hose-motif reliefs. Registered Tangible Cultural Property, one of Japan's 100 Best Modern Waterworks, and JSCE Selected Civil Engineering Heritage.

The Ibara Civic Hall Annex, located in central Ibara City in western Okayama Prefecture, is a two-story reinforced concrete structure completed in 1971 alongside the Main Hall. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2023, it embodies the legacy of postwar Japanese modernism through its exposed concrete finishes and distinctive vertical ventilation tower.

Completed in 1971, the Ibara Civic Hall Main Building is a striking reinforced concrete civic hall designed by Murayama Eikō of the Kansai Architectural Office. With its dramatic clock tower and diverse exposed concrete finishes, it was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2023, standing as a leading example of postwar modernist architecture in western Okayama.

Discover Emi Photo Studio in Tsuyama, Okayama — a Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1929. Featuring distinctive early Showa-era architecture with arched windows and a semicircular reception room, this working studio also safeguards over 10,000 historic photographs.