Taishō
大正Browse Japan’s cultural heritage from the Taishō period (1912 – 1926). Filter by prefecture, type, and keyword, with concise stories, maps, and travel tips.
The Koiwai Station Main Building on the JR Tazawako Line in Takizawa City, Iwate Prefecture, is a wooden station building constructed in 1921 (Taisho 10) at the opening of the Hashiba Light Railway. Registered as a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property in August 2025, it is also known as a place once visited by the poet Miyazawa Kenji. After a careful restoration in 2023, it serves both as a working station and as a beloved community gathering hub.
Standing on the banks of the Iwai River in Ichinoseki, Iwate, the Sekinoichi Sake Brewery Former Sales Warehouse is a single-story earthen storehouse built in 1919 during the Taishō era. Its white-plastered gable is elegantly framed in dark, over-fired clay bricks. Designed by Kohara Yūsuke, an architect in the school of Tatsuno Kingo of Tokyo Station fame, it was registered together with six other brewery buildings as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 1999, and remains in active use as part of a working sake and craft beer brewery.
The Imao Family Residence Rice Storehouse in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, is a traditional kura storehouse registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2007. Part of a six-building estate along the historic Nakasendō highway rest stop of Shin-Kanō, it preserves the architectural heritage and prosperity of a prominent family in this Edo-period post town.
Discover the Imao Family Residence Middle Gate and Wall (Imao-ke Jutaku Chumon oyobi Hei), a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture. This traditional wooden gate and wall stand within a historic compound along the former Nakasendo post town of Shinkano.
Discover the Imao Family Residence Annex, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture. Part of a six-building compound along the historic Nakasendo highway's Shinkano post town, this elegant annex showcases traditional Japanese domestic architecture and the legacy of a prominent local family.
The Imao Family Residence Yakushido in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, is a Buddhist hall dedicated to the Medicine Buddha, located within the compound of a family that served as official physicians to the Tsubouchi feudal lords. Registered as a national tangible cultural property in 2007, it uniquely embodies the harmony between medical practice and spiritual devotion in traditional Japanese culture.
Single-story main house of the Kamiyama Residence in Tajimi, built late Taisho by tile maker and first mayor Sato Teiji, with veranda and moon-viewing platform.
Two-story clay-walled storehouse of the Kamiyama Residence in Tajimi, on a three-course granite base, namako plaster below, black plaster above, hinged gable doors.
Small west outbuilding of the Kamiyama Residence in Tajimi, a late-Taisho wooden building said to have been a live-in study, its entrance finished to echo the annex.
East wing of the Kamiyama Residence in Tajimi, a Japanese-style annex by the main house, its tiled bay-windowed room answering the estate's landmark Western annex.
The Former Suda Dental Clinic, located along the Enako River in Takayama's Sakura-machi district, is a two-story wooden building from the late Taisho period (1919–1926). Featuring Western-style design on the ground floor and Japanese-style rooms above, with distinctive clapboard siding and tall windows, it stands as a rare example of Taisho-era Western architecture amid Takayama's traditional townhouses. It was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2021.
Discover the Former Hayashi Clinic X-ray Building (Kyu Hayashi Ryoin Rentgen-to), a nationally registered tangible cultural property in Gujo Hachiman, Gifu Prefecture. Built in the early Taisho era, this historic Western-style medical building houses one of Gifu's earliest X-ray facilities and is now open to the public as part of the Gujo Hachiman Rakugeikan museum.
Discover the Former Horitani Clinic, a registered tangible cultural property built in 1920 in the castle town of Gujo Hachiman, Gifu Prefecture. This charming Taisho-era wooden clinic features distinctive arched windows, concrete wash-out walls, and elaborate plaster ornamentation.
Tucked beside Mino's historic washi-papermaking district in Gifu Prefecture, the Former Meitetsu Mino-machi Line Mino Station Platform and Tracks preserve a U-shaped 1923 terminal almost untouched since the line closed in 1999. Cobblestone platform walls, L-section steel canopies, and original 1919 Carnegie rails survive intact, joined by three vintage streetcars and the wooden station building. A National Registered Tangible Cultural Property with free admission, the site is a charming starting point for exploring the Udatsu townscape and Mino's UNESCO-recognized handmade paper heritage.
Standing almost untouched since 1923, the Former Meitetsu Mino-machi Line Mino Station in Gifu Prefecture is one of Japan's most evocative railway time capsules. The pale pink wooden station, U-shaped platforms, original Carnegie-made tracks, and three preserved streetcars all remain exactly as they were when the line closed in 1999. Lovingly maintained by a volunteer society and designated a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2005, the site is freely open to visitors and lies just three minutes on foot from Mino-shi Station, making it the perfect first stop on a walk through the city's famous Udatsu historic townscape.
Hidden deep within a forested ravine in Hida City, Gifu Prefecture, the Kuwadani No.1 Sabo Dam is a remarkable hand-built erosion-control structure completed in 1921. Constructed of meticulously fitted mortared stonework, it was built in response to a devastating 1914 sediment disaster and forms part of Japan's first major sabo project on the Jinzu River system. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2019, it stands as a quiet testament to early twentieth-century Japanese civil engineering craftsmanship.
The Kuwadani No. 5 Sabo Dam, located in Kuwano, Miyagawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture, is a dry stone masonry erosion-control dam built in 1920 and registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2019. The tallest of the historic sabo dams in the upper Jinzū River system, this hand-built structure quietly preserves the civil engineering heritage of Taishō-era Japan. Its four-meter sliding waterfall and weathered stonework tell the story of a century-long stand against landslides in one of the country's most mountainous regions.
Built in 1920 by hand alone, the Kuwadani No. 10 Sabo Dam in Hida, Gifu is a 23-by-4.5-meter dry-stone check dam with a mortared auxiliary sub-dam set against its front face. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2019.
Built in 1921, the Kuwadani No. 2 Erosion-Control Dam stands 6.4 metres tall and 26 metres wide in a tributary of the Miyagawa River in Hida City, Gifu. Its mortared stonework, paired with the matching Dam No. 1 just downstream, forms a cascading pair registered as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2019.
Discover Shirakawa Bridge, a rare Taisho-period steel suspension bridge spanning the Hida River in Shirakawa Town, Gifu. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property and a JSCE Civil Engineering Heritage site, this century-old pedestrian bridge offers scenic views and a glimpse into Japan's modern engineering history.