Taishō

Okujun Tenpo in Yuki, Ibaraki, is an early Taisho shop clad in copper sheeting, registered in 2005. It is still the buying floor where the house trades tsumugi silk.

A 1925 gravity concrete weir 20 metres long on the Satokawa, the Ozatogawa Power Plant Water Intake Station has a fish ladder and sluice gates and feeds the plant.

The Ozatogawa Power Plant Tailrace of 1925 returns water to the Satokawa along 142 metres of open channel, its dry stone walls crossed by 3 concrete arch bridges.

A 1925 reinforced concrete powerhouse on the Satokawa in Hitachiota, Ibaraki, the Ozatogawa Power Plant Main Building covers 186 square metres and still generates.

The Ozatogawa Power Plant Spillway of 1925 carries surplus water from the head tank down the hillside to the Satokawa, 281 metres in all, mostly as open channel.

Discover the Kami Power Plant Intake in Hitachi-Ōta, Ibaraki Prefecture — a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1919. Explore this Taishō-era hydroelectric facility on the Satogawa River.

Discover the Kami Power Station Tailrace and Spillway, a registered tangible cultural property built in 1919. This Taisho-era hydroelectric waterway in Hitachiota, Ibaraki showcases exquisite stone masonry and a segmental arch bridge still standing after a century.

Discover the Kami Power Station Main Building, a nationally registered tangible cultural property in Hitachiota, Ibaraki. Built in 1919, this operational hydroelectric facility features a Swiss-made Francis turbine and Taisho-era wooden architecture along the Satogawa River.

Tucked into the mountains of northern Ibaraki Prefecture, the Former Asakawa Elementary School Building No. 1 is a roughly 39-meter-long wooden schoolhouse built in 1913. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2018, it is a beautifully preserved example of the single-corridor school architecture once common in rural Japan. Discover this quiet rural heritage site in Daigo Town alongside attractions such as the spectacular Fukuroda Falls.

A wooden 2-storey former inn on the Hinuma River in Oarai, Ibaraki. Registered in 2007, it shows deep eaves on a projecting purlin and a latticed ground-floor bay.

Discover the Former Kyōrakukan (Hitachi Budōkan) in Hitachi City, Ibaraki. This striking 1917 wooden theater was built by the Hitachi Mine in the style of Tokyo's Kabukiza and is now a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan.

The Former Daigo Bank Head Office in Daigo, Ibaraki Prefecture, is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1917. Featuring Renaissance-inspired columns and a distinctive corner dome, this elegant wooden bank building now serves as the Machikado Bijutsukan gallery. A must-visit on any heritage walk through the Oku-Kuji area, home to the famous Fukuroda Falls.

A Taisho stock storehouse behind a draper's shop in Hojo, Tsukuba, black-plastered with a boarded north gable. Registered in 2015 and closed to visitors.

A Taisho grain store on the east edge of a draper's plot in Hojo, Tsukuba: a thin white-plastered single storey with a bath added later. Registered 2015.

A Taisho service block northeast of a draper's house in Hojo, Tsukuba: cooking room, bath and privy in one file, built detached. Registered in 2015 and closed.

A Taisho draper's shop in Hojo, Tsukuba, its 2 black-plastered gable ends facing the old road to Mount Tsukuba. Registered in 2015; ground floor open free.

A Taisho-era stone storehouse in Koga, Ibaraki, walled in cut Oya tuff with single long stones at each doorway. Registered in 2000, it now holds a small hall.

A Taisho house of around 1921 behind the family shop in Makabe, Sakuragawa City. Its plan sets a 6-mat Western room beside a 10-mat altar room. Registered in 2004.

Built in 1916 in the central shopping street of Daigo Town, Ibaraki, this Registered Tangible Cultural Property combines a two-story gabled shop section with a single-story hipped residential wing. Today it operates as daigo cafe, just a three-minute walk from Hitachi-Daigo Station.

Built in 1912 in the heart of Daigo Town, Ibaraki Prefecture, the Daigo Cafe Dozo is a two-story earthen storehouse registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property of Japan. Highlights include the striking contrast between its white and black plaster, and the namako-kabe lattice tiling along its gable skirts — both products of skilled traditional craftsmanship. Today the dozo serves as part of the beloved 'daigo cafe,' where visitors can enjoy dishes featuring Okukuji apples, wasabi, and shamo chicken. Combined with attractions such as Fukuroda Falls, it offers an unforgettable taste of the history and food culture of the Okukuji region.