Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Shiga

Added in 1933 behind a Taga inn in Shiga, this single-storey wing pairs a fifteen-mat room with a shoin bay and a cabinet cut as a temple window. Registered in 2002.

Built in 1924 at the gates of Taga Taisha in Shiga, this wooden inn sets an irimoya gable over a projecting porch. Registered in 2002 for the street it helps shape.

Gariban Denshōkan in Higashiōmi is the 1909 annex of the home of Horii Shinjirō, inventor of the Japanese mimeograph. Registered in 1998; open weekends, free.

Kawakami Family Residence in Otsu, Shiga is the western half of a 1933 wooden row house of 37 square metres, down a lane off the old Tokaido and registered in 2020.

Above the main hall of Kawaraya-ji in Shiga, this small 1700 founder's hall honours the monk who revived the temple and shows the Zen style at close range.

Built in 1725, this sutra hall at Kawaraya-ji holds an octagonal revolving scripture case and bold shrimp-beam framing. It is the one building listed for design merit.

The largest building at Kawaraya-ji, this 1871 priests' quarters greets guests with a cusped karahafu entrance and bold beam framing over its earthen-floored kitchen.

Linked to the main hall by a covered corridor, this mid-1640s hall at Kawaraya-ji is thought to be its former main hall, marked by the raigō pillars still at its altar.

Before the main hall, this mid-1640s bell tower at Kawaraya-ji rises on sixteen-faceted posts splayed outward for strength. Hanging its bell marked the temple's revival.

The smallest of Kawaraya-ji's seven listed buildings, this 1818 hall of barely three square metres packs full Zen detail around Binzuru, the arhat rubbed for healing.

The Former Imazu Post Office, located on Vories Street in Imazu, Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, is a two-story wooden post office building designed by American architect William Merrell Vories and completed in 1936. Featuring a semicircular arched entrance and charming blend of Western and Japanese design elements, it was registered as a nationally designated tangible cultural property in 2015.

The Former Shiga Bank Konan Branch, located along the historic Soma Kaido road in Koka City, Shiga Prefecture, is a reinforced concrete bank building completed in 1925 to a design by William Merrell Vories. Featuring Ionic columns and a semicircular arched window in classical Western style, it was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2015.

The Former Tada Family Residence Main House in Otsu, Shiga is a mid-Meiji townhouse facing a lane in the old post town, keeping its lattice bay and guard rail.

Built around 1919 by the Ōmi merchant Tanaka family, this great hall frames its garden through verandas and Taishō glass, and now serves the Ōmi Shōnintei restaurant.

This 1919 plaster storehouse stands at the northwest corner, with a boarded skirt, a separate roof over its core, and a notched eaves band, shaping the post-town street.

Built around 1919 by the Ōmi merchant Tanaka family, this eight-mat tea room works round bamboo and fine woods into its alcove, and now forms part of the Ōmi Shōnintei.

Built in 1919 for the Ōmi merchant Tanaka family, this two-storey timber house lays out grid-plan rooms open to the garden, and now houses the Ōmi Shōnintei restaurant.

The oldest of the five buildings, this 1892 plaster storehouse carries scrolling motifs and a family crest at its west door and a wave-formed eave on the east gable.

Explore the Former Toyosato Elementary School in Shiga Prefecture, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property designed by architect William Merrell Vories in 1937. Discover its Omi merchant heritage, iconic Tortoise and Hare staircase, and anime pilgrimage culture.

Guzeiji Temple Front Gate in Higashiomi, Shiga, is a four-legged gate of 1721, 3.9 metres wide, with a dragon carved above the lintel. It was registered in 2021.