Former Shogisan Distribution Reservoir Metering Room

A Tiny Metering House with Classical Columns

The Former Shogisan Distribution Reservoir Metering Room (旧床几山配水池計量室) is a small waterworks metering house of 1917 in Agenogi, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on April 18, 2008 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey reinforced-concrete building with a building area of 6.1 square metres; registration number 32-0073.

The Metering House on the East Side

The metering room stands on the east side of the reservoir compound, where it measured the water sent down to the city (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It is a reinforced-concrete box just 2.5 metres square, finished in sprayed mortar under a vaulted roof.

A Matsue City report notes that the pump house and staff quarters were rebuilt early in the Showa era, but lists the metering room, with the reservoir and the entrance gate, among the parts that survive from the original construction.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency singles out its unusual design: an iron door in the centre of the front, flanked by Ionic-style columns with a pronounced entasis, the slight swelling along the shaft. It was registered as a model of design, a classical front given to what is, in function, a meter hut.

What to Look For

Walk round to the front and look at the two columns either side of the iron door. Their shafts swell noticeably at mid-height, a strong entasis that gives a building only 2.5 metres square a surprisingly formal presence (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Up close, the curve of the vaulted roof and the coarse grain of the sprayed mortar are easy to read.

Visiting

The metering room stands inside the park, and its exterior can be seen during opening hours. No official information on interior access was found.