Shōwa

The Genkai wing of Hyakunen Teien no Yado Suisui in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, is a single-story wooden building from 1962, registered as a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2022. Facing a Japanese pond garden completed in 1889, it was honored as a pioneering example of modern sukiya architecture that blends rustic hermitage motifs with bold contemporary design, and it still serves as a working luxury ryokan today.

Located in the heart of Kitakyushu's Kokurakita Ward, the Sugao building of Hyakunen Teien no Yado Suisui (Former Ryokan Tagawa Detached Wing) is a single-story wooden sukiya-style structure built in 1962, facing a 700-tsubo Japanese garden whose origins date to 1889. Registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 17, 2022, it is recognized as a pioneering example of modern sukiya architecture, combining traditional shoin-style design with inventive dimensional systems and modern lighting ideas. The inn is an eight-minute walk from JR Kokura Station and close to Tanga Market and Kokura Castle.

The connecting corridor of Hyakunen Teien no Yado Suisui in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, links three sukiya-style guest pavilions with knotted log pillars, a densely packed bamboo ceiling, and diagonally laid tiles. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2022, this modest yet refined passage guides visitors through a historic garden more than a century old.

Discover Reizensō, a 1958 reinforced concrete apartment building in Fukuoka's historic Hakata district. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2024, this pioneering renovation museum blends Showa-era architecture with creative studios, cafés, and galleries.

Tucked inside a historic high school campus in Iwaki, Fukushima, Sakuragaoka Kaikan is a 1938 wooden library building whose round windows and arched modernist details earned it Registered Tangible Cultural Property status — and gave the school its present name.

Standing in Tochikubo, Kashima Ward of Minamisoma City in Fukushima, the Otani Family Residence Middle Storehouse is a two-story earthen-walled storehouse from the early Showa period, registered as a national cultural property. Together with the East Storehouse and gate, it lines the historic Salt Road that linked the coastal Hamakaido with the inland Oshu-kaido, preserving refined details such as spiral-motif wall bands and namako-kabe checkered walls. Discover how sake, soy sauce, and the trading culture of old Soma shaped this landscape.

The Ōtani Family Residence Gate in Tochikubo, Kashima-ku, Minamisoma, is a nationally registered tangible cultural property. Built in the early Shōwa era in the traditional Kōrai-mon style, this wooden gate stands between two plaster storehouses along the historic Salt Road, preserving the atmosphere of a once-thriving merchant trading hub.

The street frontage of the Sasa Masamune brewery in Kitakata, Fukushima: a yakui-mon gate of about 1927 and a 35-meter wall, spared by the June 2026 fire.

The Nippon Sei Ko Kai Koriyama St. Peter and St. Paul Church, standing on the Hayama hillside in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, is a reinforced concrete Gothic chapel completed in 1932. Designed by architect Uebayashi Keikichi, the church features refined buttress detailing, a Norman-style tower, an innovative scissors truss and arched beam roof structure, and stained glass made from Czechoslovakian glass. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2018, it represents the culmination of prewar Anglican church architecture in Japan.

The Hayashi Family Residence in Zaimokucho, Aizu-Wakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture, is a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1927. This grand dwelling of over 100 tsubo features rare yellow plaster walls with weatherboard cladding and a prestigious irimoya-style tiled roof with masterfully layered gables, creating an imposing presence. Also designated as Aizu-Wakamatsu Historical Landscape Building No. 18, it stands as a masterpiece of early Showa-period residential architecture.

The detached parlor of Fukunishi Honten in Aizuwakamatsu, added about 1930, is a refined sukiya-style wing facing the garden, with plain-wood rooms above.

Built directly on the 135th meridian east — Japan's Standard Time Meridian — the Akashi Municipal Planetarium is Japan's oldest astronomical science museum, opened in 1960. Registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property, it houses Japan's longest-operating Carl Zeiss Jena planetarium and a 54-meter clock tower with panoramic observation decks, offering an unforgettable journey through time and space.

Built in 1927 and designed by architect Kataoka Yasushi, Ashiya Buddhist Hall is a nationally registered cultural property blending modern architecture with Eastern and Indian motifs. Featuring innovative earthquake-resistant construction, lotus stained glass, and nearly a century of Buddhist lectures, it stands as an icon of Hanshinkan Modernism along the scenic Ashiya River.

Atago Bridge spans the Otani River in the heart of Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture. Built in 1926 as part of the reconstruction following the devastating 1925 Kita-Tajima Earthquake, this reinforced concrete pedestrian bridge features an elegant bow-shaped arch adorned with lantern pillars and giboshi finials in traditional Japanese style. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2015, Atago Bridge serves as the gateway to Atago Shrine and forms an iconic part of Kinosaki's famous willow-lined riverscape.

Originally built in 1937 as a disaster recovery project following the devastating Muroto Typhoon, the former Kaimei Ordinary Elementary School is a three-story reinforced concrete building with a distinctive ship-like silhouette. Its semi-cylindrical staircase tower, strong horizontal window canopies, and L-shaped plan make it an outstanding example of early Showa school architecture. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2007, the building preserves a prewar imperial portrait safe and WWII bullet scars on its perimeter wall.

The former Osho Village Hall in Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, is the first government building designed by Togo Murano, one of Japan's most celebrated modern architects and a recipient of the Order of Culture. Completed in 1937, this three-story reinforced concrete structure features distinctive brown tile walls, decorative reliefs of eagles and griffins, and an inventive floor plan. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property, it embodies the prosperity of a village once known as the richest in Japan.

A 1933 bracket-arm gate on a street in Ashiya Midorigaoka: gabled pantiles, copper eaves and adze-marked board doors. Registered 2024. A private home.

Ō-bashi (King's Bridge) spans the Ōtani River in the heart of Kinosaki Onsen, Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture. Built in 1927 as part of the post-earthquake reconstruction following the devastating 1925 Kita-Tajima Earthquake, this reinforced concrete road bridge features towering granite pillars crowned with stone lanterns and bronze-decorated balustrades inspired by shrine and temple architecture. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2015, the bridge stands before the iconic Ichi-no-yu bathhouse and defines the scenic identity of one of Japan's most beloved hot spring towns.

Built in 1927 as a social hall for the merchants of Hyogo-no-tsu, the Former Okakata Club is a nationally registered tangible cultural property that miraculously survived both the Kobe air raids of WWII and the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995. This Secessionist-style Western building preserves the memory of Hyogo-no-tsu's prosperity and will reopen as the Kobe City Historical Archives in June 2026.

The Former Maya Kanko Hotel (Mayakan), nestled on the slopes of Mount Maya in Kobe, is an Art Deco reinforced concrete building completed in 1929. Known as the 'Queen of Ruins' for its graceful, curving silhouette enveloped by mountain forest, it became the first ruin in Japan to be registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2021. Discover the fascinating history and architectural beauty of this iconic heritage site.