Taishō

The tea room of the Manabe Family Residence, built around 1914 as the estate's last addition. Two rooms at right angles, its plastered wall joining the estate boundary.

In Mure, Takamatsu, a brick chimney about eighteen meters tall stands by the road to Yakuriji temple, its south face still bearing the Genji Masamune brewery name.

Once a store for the Yamada family's Genji Masamune sake, this plain late-Taisho timber storehouse near Yakuriji temple now serves as a dining room for a udon restaurant.

On the old approach to Yakuriji temple, a hall barely two square meters shelters two stone Jizo figures inscribed 1729 and 1765, marking devotion on the pilgrim path.

At the center of the Yamada estate near Yakuriji temple, this large timber house of former headmen turned sake brewers now serves as the Yamada-ya udon restaurant.

East of the gatehouse, the Yamada south storehouse shows its white-plastered gable to the road, a late-Taisho earthen storehouse built for sake, now a udon dining room.

Discover Kita no Kawaguchi Bridge, a registered tangible cultural property in Shimanto Town, Kochi. This semicircular stone arch bridge built in 1919 stands near the confluence of the Kita no Kawa and Shimanto Rivers.

The Former Ichikawa Clinic in Yasuda Town, Kochi Prefecture, is a nationally registered tangible cultural property built around 1913 in Western-style clapboard architecture. Originally the clinic of the Ichikawa family—physicians to the Tosa domain since the 1600s—it now forms part of the Yasuda Machinami Koryukan Nagomi, a community center showcasing Bakumatsu-era history and the unique blend of Western and traditional Japanese architecture.

Within the Kubo grounds in Yasuda, this Taisho river-stone wall staggers its vertical joints, keeps the horizontal courses level, and sets larger stones at its ends.

In the old Tosa town of Yasuda, this small Taisho-era storehouse of the Kubo merchant house wears lime-plaster walls and regional drip tiles above an iron-clad base.

Facing a back lane in Yasuda, this Taisho detached room of the Kubo house holds a six-mat guest chamber with an alcove, its iron-clad walls opening upstairs only.

On the south side of the Kubo shop-house in Yasuda, this modest 1.9-metre Taisho service gate, with a single mairado door, links the household to its garden and field.

Discover Jokoji Temple Shoin, a registered tangible cultural property in Yasuda, Kochi Prefecture. This elegant Taisho-era sukiya-style study hall belongs to a 400-year-old temple that nurtured key figures of Japan's Meiji Restoration, including Mitsubishi founder Iwasaki Yataro.

A 39-square-metre Taisho storehouse in Kochi answering typhoon country with drip tiles, a ventilated set roof, and two-tone plaster. Registered in 2003 for design.

An eleven-metre brick chimney of the Taisho era at Amabuki Shuzo, Saga. Its hexagonal base and twin decorative bands mark the brewery from across the paddy fields.

A Taisho-era reinforced concrete storehouse cut into a hillside at Amabuki Shuzo, Saga. Still working as a cold store, it borrows its chill from the earth.

The former Tanakamaru family residence in Ushizu, Ogi City, Saga Prefecture, is a magnificent Taishō-era wooden mansion built as the home of Tanakamaru Zenzō, founder of the Tamaya department store chain. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property, this grand yet refined sukiya-style residence stands as a testament to the prosperous mercantile history of Ushizu.

Discover Kan'ōtei, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Nishikei Park, Taku City, Saga Prefecture. This elegant wooden public hall was donated in 1924 by coal magnate Takatori Koreyoshi as a center for community learning and culture.

Discover Machiya Cafe Zen in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture — a nationally registered tangible cultural property originally built in 1925 as a pawnshop residence. Enjoy coffee in a beautifully preserved Taisho-period machiya featuring copper-clad fireproof doors and traditional lattice windows.

Seishido in Fukaya City, Saitama, is an elegant brick memorial hall built in 1916 to celebrate the 77th birthday of Shibusawa Eiichi, the father of Japanese capitalism. Designed by renowned architect Tanabe Junkichi, this Important Cultural Property blends English country aesthetics with East Asian decorative motifs and is open to visitors free of charge.