What Is the Former Kitamura Clinic (Riken Residence) Consultation Building?
The Former Kitamura Clinic (Riken Residence) Consultation Building (旧北村医院（李軒邸）診療棟, Kyū Kitamura Iin Riken-tei Shinryōtō) is a single-storey clinic wing built between 1919 and 1926 in Tobakamicho, Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture, and was entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on October 14, 2021. It is a timber building with a hip-and-gable roof (Irimoya-zukuri) of pantiles and a building area of 22 square meters. Long and narrow on a north-south axis, it links the south face of the main house with the north face of the waiting room building.
Inside are just two rooms: an examination room and a dispensary. Patients came through from the waiting room, were examined here, and collected their medicine before leaving.
Why It Was Registered
The Consultation Building was registered under the criterion of contributing to the country's historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a modern clinic wing that, together with the Edo-period main house, shows how the practice developed over time.
In the 1827 main house the doctor worked from the front rooms of the family home. The Kitamura consultation building moved examination and dispensing out of the living quarters and into a purpose-built space. Of the ten registered structures, it is the one that makes that shift most visible.
What to Look For
Plaster walls on a pebble-washed base
The walls are finished in white lime plaster (Shikkui), with the lower part in a washed aggregate finish: cement mixed with fine gravel, rinsed before it sets so the stones stand proud. It resists splashing and scuffing. Paired with the hip-and-gable roof, the finish gives the wing a different face from the plain gabled buildings around it.
A reception counter and frosted glass
A reception counter survives inside, and frosted glass is fitted where it blocks sightlines. The agency points to these fittings as evidence of how the rooms worked. Even in a small village practice, the Kitamura doctors took care to keep examinations out of view.
Two rooms, no waste
At 22 square meters, the wing is about the size of 13.5 tatami mats. Into it the builders fitted an examination room and a dispensary, with the treatment room of the main house to the north and the waiting room to the south. The Consultation Building doubles as the corridor that ties the clinic together.
Visiting the Consultation Building
The interior of the Former Kitamura Clinic (Riken Residence) Consultation Building is not open, and no opportunity to see the counter or the frosted glass had been announced as of September 27, 2026. The wing sits deep inside the compound between the main house and the waiting room, so it is unlikely to be visible as a whole from outside. The agency's database has one photograph of the east side and one of the examination room seen from the south.
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Q&A
- When was the Former Kitamura Clinic (Riken Residence) Consultation Building built?
- It was built in the late Taisho era, between 1919 and 1926. In the same period the detached parlor next door, originally a retirement cottage, was converted into the waiting room.
- What is inside the Former Kitamura Clinic (Riken Residence) Consultation Building?
- Two rooms: an examination room and a dispensary. A reception counter and frosted glass panels that block sightlines are still in place.
- How does the Former Kitamura Clinic (Riken Residence) Consultation Building connect to the other buildings?
- Its north end joins the treatment room projecting from the south front of the main house, and its south end joins the north side of the detached parlor used as a waiting room. Patients moved north from waiting room to examination room to treatment room.
- Why is the Former Kitamura Clinic (Riken Residence) Consultation Building a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered on October 14, 2021, for contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The agency values it as a modern clinic wing that, with the Edo-period main house, shows how the practice changed.
- Can visitors see the Former Kitamura Clinic (Riken Residence) Consultation Building?
- The interior is not open, and no public opening had been announced as of September 27, 2026. Because the wing stands inside the compound, little of it is likely to be visible from outside.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kitamura Clinic (Riken Residence) Consultation Building |
|---|---|
| Location | 761 Tobakamicho, Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | 2021 (registered) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, 1 storey, tiled roof, building area 22 square meters |
| Owner | Not published |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (no opening announced; checked September 27, 2026) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Former Kitamura Clinic (Riken Residence) Consultation Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014030
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Council for Cultural Affairs recommendation on registered buildings (July 16, 2021, Japanese)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/pdf/93246101_01.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.26
