The Office at a Glance
The Former Nakagawa Brick Factory Office (旧中川煉瓦製造所事務所) is a single-storey brick office building of about 1916 in Funaki-cho, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on November 10, 2005 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its registration number is 25-0234.
It stands in the northeast part of the works site, close to the old main gate. With a building area of 50 square meters, it is the smallest of the four registered buildings.
A Small Office Dressed in Brick
The Nakagawa office measures 6.2 by 8.0 meters. It has a gabled roof, and the entrance is on one of the long sides parallel to the ridge (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The walls are laid in English bond and finished with rounded, raised mortar joints. A sawtooth band of bricks set on the diagonal runs along the cornice, and the pilasters and keystones on the front use bricks of a different shade, which gives the building its decorative face (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Why It Was Registered
The Agency registered the Former Nakagawa Brick Factory Office as a model of design. Part of its appeal is that a brickmaker used its own office to show what brick could do, with contrasting colors, careful jointing and an ornamental cornice.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry lists the office with the kiln, the machine shop and the rope sewing factory as part of Omihachiman's red-brick manufacturing heritage.
What to Look For
From the front, look at the color of the pilasters and keystones. Bricks of a different shade from the walls give this small single-storey building vertical lines and accents (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The sawtooth band under the eaves is a fine relief of brick corners turned outward, and its shadows shift with the light. The rounded joints are another detail worth checking on the Nakagawa office.
Visiting
No official information on interior access to the Former Nakagawa Brick Factory Office was found, so it is seen from outside the grounds.
The office is in the northeast part of the main brickworks site near the old main gate; the site lies on the Hachiman-bori canal, about 2 kilometers northwest of JR Omi-Hachiman Station in a straight line.
Q&A
- Where is the Former Nakagawa Brick Factory Office?
- In Funaki-cho, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture, in the northeast part of the former brickworks near the old main gate (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- When was the Former Nakagawa Brick Factory Office built?
- In about 1916 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- What is special about the Former Nakagawa Brick Factory Office?
- Its pilasters and keystones in contrasting brick, a sawtooth cornice and rounded mortar joints (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- Can I go inside the Former Nakagawa Brick Factory Office?
- No official information on interior access was found; it is seen from outside the grounds.
- When was the Former Nakagawa Brick Factory Office registered?
- On November 10, 2005, under registration number 25-0234 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Former Nakagawa Brick Factory Office (旧中川煉瓦製造所事務所) |
|---|---|
| Location | 59-1 Higashizawada, Funaki-cho, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2005/11/10 (Heisei 17) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Brick, single-storey, building area 50 m² |
| Owner | Not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Public Access | Exterior only (no official information on interior access) |
References
- Former Nakagawa Brick Factory Office (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004987
- Heritage of Industrial Modernization 33 (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japanese)
- https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/mono_info_service/mono/creative/kindaikasangyoisan/pdf/isangun.pdf
Last verified: 2026.11.01
