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.
A 1935 nine-span concrete bridge over the upper Shimanto River in Kochi, registered in 2000, the oldest surviving bridge in the basin built to go under in floods.
Folded-plate concrete shell museum of 1966 by Hayashi Masako on the Tatsukushi coast, Kochi; skylight bathes Kurohara Kazuo's shells in an underwater glow.
A 1938 storehouse in Nahari, Kochi, built by a farm cooperative and registered in 2000, with drip tiles on its gable and plastered eaves.
Reinforced-concrete bridge of 1935 over the Doi River in Niyodogawa, Kochi, 69 metres long on Flemish-bond brick piers, also used as a market square for the village.
Small concrete arch of 1944 on the former Taisho forest railway at Koyagauchi, Shimanto, Kochi, with walls of locally quarried stone; now used as a town road.
Forest railway tunnel of 1944 at Koyagauchi, Shimanto, Kochi, cutting through a bend of the Yusuhara River; at 138 metres the longest on the line, now a town road.
Three-arch concrete bridge of 1944 on the former Taisho forest railway at Shimotsui, Shimanto, Kochi, 82 metres long and known locally as the Spectacles Bridge.
Concrete arch of 1944 on the former Taisho forest railway at Eshi, Shimanto, Kochi, beside a stone road bridge of about 1935; together they trace local transport.
An early Showa annex behind a Susaki merchant's house: a tiled hipped roof outside, king post trusses over a post-free kitchen and a straight-grained ceiling inside.
A 1935 reinforced concrete bridge over the Niyodo River in Kochi, railless and built to be overtopped by floods, its 13-metre arch springing from bedrock.
Keikiso in Kami, Kochi, is the thatched cottage of 1934 where the poet Yoshii Isamu lived in seclusion, a simple retreat with tasteful sukiya details.
The Goto Family Residence Office, a 1949 building of 17 square metres in Aki, is registered for its gently curved hip-and-gable roof and big south and west windows.
The Goto Family Residence Barn, a 1949 two-storey barn in Aki, is registered for its board and Tosa plaster walls and the fence that ties it to the main house.
The Goto Family Residence Annex, a 1954 cottage on the Aki Castle site, is registered for its two tatami rooms, kitchen and toilet wings and black north wall.
The Koyagauchi Bridge in Shimanto, Kochi, is a concrete low-water bridge of 1953, set on bedrock with pointed cutwaters so that floods can pass right over it.
Concrete submersible bridge of 1954 on the Shimanto River, Kochi, with no railings and a 12-metre central span left after floods swept away its piers.
The storehouse of the Sawamura Family Residence in Tosa, Kochi, built in 1935, wears white Tosa lime plaster banded with 4 tiers of rain-shedding tile ledges.
The main house of the Sawamura Family Residence in Tosa, Kochi, built in 1935, crosses a French-tiled Western wing into a traditional hip-and-gable house.
The outdoor toilet of the Sawamura Family Residence in Tosa, Kochi, built in 1935, is a small plastered building with a fan-shaped window in its west wall.
The gate of the Sawamura Family Residence in Tosa, Kochi, built in 1935, has arched concrete gateposts and iron doors styled to match the Western wing of the house.