Taishō

Three chambers and a cylinder of concrete by the Naraigawa: where spring water entered Matsumoto's first waterworks in 1922, an arrangement not easily reproduced.

A forty-square-metre timber shed of 1922 with a king-post truss, standing among concrete and Art Deco neighbours. It still stores the paperwork it was built for.

Buried under grass at Joyama, a vaulted concrete reservoir of 1,518 square metres held Matsumoto's drinking water and let gravity carry it down to the city below.

A concrete tank 3.34 metres across, wrapped in a patterned brick drum with the city waterworks emblem above its door. Pumping ended here in 1923; gravity took over.

At Otari Onsen in deep Nagano, Yamada Ryokan's 1926 bathhouse shelters the historic Utsutsu-no-yu spring. A two-story wooden Taisho-period building with Western-influenced interiors, registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2001.

The Hei-Haiden (offertory and worship hall) of Amenohinatori-no-mikoto Shrine in Tottori City is a Taisho-era wooden shrine building constructed in 1913. Featuring an irimoya-style gable-end entrance with a distinctive cusped gable porch and traditional bargeboard carvings with surviving original-scale drawings, it was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2022. The building forms an integral part of this ancient Engishiki-listed shrine's historic landscape.

The Main Hall of Amenohinadori no Mikoto Shrine, located atop a hill in the Ohata district of Tottori City, is a Shikinaisha listed in the Engishiki Jimmeicho (927 AD), rebuilt in 1913 during the Taisho era. This elegant ikensha nagare-zukuri structure with a copper-plate roof features restrained yet refined carved ornamentation. With its original design documents preserved, it was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2022 for its value in documenting modern shrine construction practices.

A four-and-a-half mat tea room inside a storehouse. Said to have begun as a rice mill, this Taisho building in Sakaiminato was rebuilt as reception rooms.

The Yonago Senmon Daiten in Doshomachi, Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture, is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property completed around 1924. Designed by Hara Yasokichi as the city's first rental commercial building, this three-story reinforced concrete landmark features a stone-style facade, an arched entrance, and the original Yonago Bank emblem, telling the story of Sanin's commercial heyday.

The 1924 main house of the Itohara ironmasters of Okuizumo: some forty rooms over about 350 tsubo. It once lodged the lord of Matsue as its guest.

The Former Gōtsu Town Hall Main Building, standing along the Tenryō Gōtsu Honmachi Iraka Kaidō in Gōtsu City, Shimane Prefecture, is a two-story reinforced concrete and wood structure built in 1926. Featuring a symmetrical facade with geometric motifs characteristic of Taishō-era design, it was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2010 and now serves as a community exchange center.

Built in 1916 as a covered drill hall for the Imperial Army's 21st Infantry Regiment, this brick building is one of the earliest examples in the San'in region to combine brick masonry with a steel roof truss. It now serves as the Second Gymnasium of Shimane Prefectural Hamada High School and is a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property, designated in 1997 as a rare survivor of Hamada's life as a garrison town.

Discover the Masuda History and Folk Museum, a nationally registered tangible cultural property originally built as the Mino District Office in 1921. Now Rekishiina, this beautifully restored Taisho-era building serves as a gateway to Masuda's medieval Japan Heritage sites including Sesshu gardens and samurai castle ruins.

Completed in 1924 under the supervision of the influential architect Ito Chuta, the worship hall of Miho Shrine in Mihonoseki, Matsue, is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property. Its open-sided, boathouse-inspired design—without walls or ceiling—works with the forested mountains behind to create remarkable acoustics befitting the head shrine of Japan's Ebisu deity, renowned as a god of music.

Discover the Former Asakura House (Kyu Asakura House), an Important Cultural Property in Daikanyama, Tokyo. Built in 1919, this Taisho-era wooden mansion features elegant tatami rooms, detailed woodwork, and a stunning hillside strolling garden with stone lanterns and seasonal foliage.

Eitai Bridge, spanning the Sumida River between Chuo and Koto cities in Tokyo, is a historic bridge with origins dating back to 1698. The current steel tied-arch structure, completed in 1926 as part of the post-Great Kanto Earthquake reconstruction, was designated a National Important Cultural Property in 2007 for its majestic parabolic arch design and engineering significance. Discover the bridge's connections to the forty-seven ronin, ukiyo-e art, and its stunning blue nighttime illumination.

Discover the Echisou Building, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Bunkyo, Tokyo. Built in 1924 as a thread merchant's headquarters, this reinforced concrete gem features elegant dentils, arched windows, and a distinctive corner tower.

Discover the Edoya Store and Residence in Nihonbashi, Tokyo — a Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1924. This Art Deco kanban-style building houses Japan's oldest brush specialty shop, founded in 1718 under the Tokugawa shoguns.

Standing at the gateway of Asakusa in Tokyo, the Main Building of Kamiya Bar is a six-story reinforced concrete commercial building completed in 1921. As Japan's first establishment to call itself a bar, it survived both the Great Kanto Earthquake and wartime destruction, and was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2011. Discover its iconic triple-arched windows and taste the legendary Denki Bran cocktail created by founder Kamiya Denbei.

Standing quietly within Bunko-no-Mori Park in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, the Former Mitsui Bunko Second Library is a Registered National Tangible Cultural Property completed in 1922. Recognized as one of Japan's oldest surviving wall-bearing reinforced concrete buildings, it was crafted with cutting-edge techniques to safeguard the Mitsui family's historical archives. Visitors can admire its imitation-tile facade, distinctive checkerboard windows, and a story of resilience that includes surviving the Great Kantō Earthquake, all set in a tranquil green park.