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 1946 stone sake storehouse in Komatsu, 15 m long, built of local Kanagaso tuff with an Edo-giri dressed base and a plastered, truss-roofed interior.
A 1948 guest room at a Komatsu sake brewery with a deep garden eave, a large alcove, a bell-arched writing bay and a coved coffered ceiling; closed for repairs.
The Hikoso Machiya in Kanazawa, a two-storey house of about 1931 with a traditional azumadachi gable, is now used by the Kanazawa Machiya Research Association.
The priests' quarters of Hoenji, the Maeda family temple in Kanazawa, is a two-storey kuri of about 1927 with a traditional ground floor and a large reception floor.
A 1934 two-storey earthen storehouse in Kanazawa, finished in artificial stone, with iron-shuttered windows facing the main house's forecourt. Registered in 2006.
Built in 1928 at the foot of the Yanagidani ravine on Mount Hakusan, this 60.5-metre dam is described as Japan's first stepped erosion dam. It was listed in 2012.
Iinuma Honke Rear Gate and Wall in Shisui, Chiba, dates from about 1954. A single-bay yakuimon 2.8 metres wide carries a wicket door, with short flanking walls.
Iinuma Honke Kinoene Storehouse in Shisui, Chiba, arrived about 1940 from a closed plant. A queen post truss spans it and its reception room has a marble floor.
Iinuma Honke Detached Annex in Shisui, Chiba, dates from about 1940. Formal rooms of 10 and 8 mats sit beside a corner tea room of bent, bark-covered timber.
The Ito Family Residence Storehouse in Kashiwa is an early Showa two-storey tool store with exposed posts and stone-look lower walls, a local type; registered 2018.
The Ito Family Residence Annex in Kashiwa is an early Showa guest wing joined to a thatched farmhouse, with a tiled roof and big bay windows, registered in 2018.
The Enomoto Family Residence Inari Shrine in Abiko, Chiba, is a tiny copper-roofed nagare-zukuri shrine of about 1958 with chamfered posts and curved beams.
The Enomoto Family Residence Main House in Abiko, Chiba, is an early Showa two-storey home with bracketed eaves, south-facing rooms and a hardwood alcove rail.
The Enomoto Family Residence Kettle House in Abiko, Chiba, is an early Showa hearth building with a ridge smoke vent, open lean-to and beams over an earthen floor.
The Enomoto Family Residence Main Gate in Abiko, Chiba, is an early Showa yakuimon of heavy zelkova, with 3 beams carrying the eaves and tall stacked ridge tiles.
Obara Family Residence Detached Wing, Tateyama, Chiba: a c.1929 guest pavilion with a reception room, a tea room, a round window and tinted plaster moldings.
Obara Family Residence Document Storehouse, Tateyama, Chiba: an early Showa earthen storehouse with stepped-plaster kakegonuri shutters and a timber-lined interior.
A 23-square-metre outbuilding on Iwasaki Hisaya's Chiba estate, its Oya stone walls faced in scratch tile right through the cornice. Registered 2013; exterior only.
Built in 1927 for Iwasaki Hisaya on his Chiba model farm, this registered villa hides concrete footings and gypsum board behind shoin rooms. Open since 2025.
A 1933 merchant house on the Kururi highway in Kimitsu, Chiba, registered in 2009. It sold sickles and bamboo well-drilling parts in a town of artesian springs.