Taishō

The Numajiri row building in Kaneda, Tsukuba, is a two-story early-Taisho structure (1912-1925), a workshop below and a silkworm room above, now used as a shop.

Discover the Megane Bridge in Takahagi, Ibaraki — a reinforced-concrete double-arch aqueduct built in 1918 that still carries water for hydroelectric power. A Registered Tangible Cultural Property and JSCE Heritage of Civil Engineering set amid the scenic Hananuki Gorge.

The brick chimney of the Buyu brewery in Yuki, Ibaraki. A Taisho-era structure about 11 metres tall, linked underground to the kettle room. A Registered Property.

The Murai Brewery Stone Warehouse, registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2000, is a remarkable Taishō-era stone building (1912–1925) in the heart of Makabe, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Combining a timber king-post truss frame with Ōya stone exterior walls, this 21.6-meter-long structure remains an active part of one of Japan's oldest sake breweries, founded in the late 17th century and producing the renowned 'Kōmei' label.

Discover the Iri Power Station Water Tank, a reinforced concrete structure from 1920, registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in Kagamino, Okayama. Explore the oldest surviving hydroelectric facility on the Yoshii River.

Discover the Iri Power Station Penstock Retaining Wall and Main Building Retaining Wall, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Kagamino Town, Okayama. Built in 1920, these cobblestone retaining walls support Okayama's oldest surviving hydroelectric power station along the Yoshii River.

The Iri Power Station Main Building, nestled in the mountains of Kagamino Town, Okayama Prefecture, is a wooden hydroelectric plant building constructed in 1920 during the Taisho era. As the oldest surviving power station on the Yoshii River system, it has operated continuously for over a century and was registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2006. With its king post truss roof structure and copper-clad gabled roof, it preserves the distinctive character of Taisho-era industrial architecture.

A 1919 timber judo hall at Okayama Asahi High School, built for the elite Sixth Higher School. Springs in the floor gave it bounce, and it survived the 1945 raid.

Okina Bridge in Tsuyama City, Okayama Prefecture, is a 1926 reinforced concrete bridge featuring Art Deco-style balustrade pillars. Its fully preserved original brick pavement, rediscovered beneath modern asphalt, earned it recognition as both a Registered Tangible Cultural Property and a JSCE Heritage of Civil Engineering.

Standing in the verdant hills of Maniwa City in Okayama Prefecture, the Worship Hall of Kiyama Shrine is an elegant single-story wooden building designed in 1919 by architect Egawa Saburohachi. With its hip-and-gable copper roof, ornate karahafu front porch, and a Western-style truss roof structure, the hall masterfully blends tradition with modern innovation. Designated a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2017, it remains the heart of a shrine with over twelve hundred years of history.

The Connecting Corridor of Kiyama Shrine in Maniwa City, Okayama, is a small but exquisite covered walkway designed in 1919 by the prefectural architect Egawa Saburohachi. Linking the worship hall and the shrine office in a gentle arc, it showcases carved rainbow beams, paired rafters, a softly curved floor, and a weathered copper roof. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2017, it stands within a shrine whose history reaches back more than 1,200 years.

Rising 21 meters above the embankment of the Asahi River in Kyobashi-cho, Okayama, this steel-framed warning tower was built in 1924 and designated a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2006. Its four legs of angle steel, braced by distinctive ring-type turnbuckles and crowned by a small watchtower with an iron pyramidal roof, form one of Japan's rare surviving Taisho-era urban warning towers. Together with the nearby Kyobashi water pipe bridge and Kyobashi road bridge, it anchors a remarkable cluster of early-modern engineering heritage close to Okayama Castle, Korakuen Garden, and the much-loved monthly Kyobashi Morning Market.

Built in 1926 as the heart of Japan's first privately funded public observatory, this observation room features an ingenious sliding roof mechanism. It is the very place where legendary amateur astronomer Minoru Honda discovered 12 comets and 11 novae. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property and designated as a Japanese Astronomical Heritage, it holds exceptional significance in the history of science.

The Former Chugoku Bank Ushimado Branch is a charming red brick building in the historic port town of Ushimado, Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture. Built in 1915 as the Ushimado Bank headquarters, this registered Tangible Cultural Property features German-imported brick walls, granite foundations, and a fascinating blend of Western and Japanese architectural styles. Now open free of charge as the Machikado Musée Ushimado Cultural Hall, it is a must-see highlight along the atmospheric Shiomachi Karakoto Street.

Built in 1915 as the Kurashiki Kindergarten, this Western-style wooden building features a distinctive octagonal playroom—believed to be the only surviving example of its kind in Japan. Now a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, it serves as a museum showcasing historical educational materials and folk artifacts near the famed Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter.

Minagi Station in Soja is the oldest surviving station house on the Hakubi Line, built in 1925 as a standard government-railway design. It marked its centenary in 2025.

Built in 1919 within the grounds of Kiyama Shrine in Maniwa City, Okayama, the Zenkaku Inari Shrine Worship Hall is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property designed by architect Egawa Saburohachi. This compact yet distinctive building blends traditional Japanese shrine carpentry with Western truss engineering, featuring clustered rafters, a coffered ceiling, and Western-style foundation stones.

The Tsuyama Christian Library (now Keizo Morimoto Memorial Hall), standing before the Tsuyama Castle ruins in Okayama Prefecture, is Japan's only Christian public library. Founded in 1926 by Morimoto Keizo, a disciple of the renowned Christian thinker Uchimura Kanzō, this three-story wooden Western-style building designed by Sakuraba Komagorō features Ionic pilasters, a clock tower, and elaborate relief carvings. It was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 1998.

Tenrai-an in Kibichuo, Okayama is the first tea house designed by Mirei Shigemori, one of Japan's most celebrated landscape architects, when he was just 18 years old. Featuring a rare three-alcove arrangement and a striking concrete tea garden depicting ocean waves in colored cement, this Registered Tangible Cultural Property offers a unique glimpse into the origins of a modern master.

A Taisho yakuimon gate in the Nagashiki garden on Konoshima, 1.3 metres wide, carrying a bracket block, a winged strut and close-set rafters. Registered 2024.