Shimane Prefectural Government Buildings

Shimane Prefectural Government Buildings

The Shimane Prefectural Government Buildings (島根県庁舎) stand on and beside the third bailey of Matsue Castle in Tonomachi, Matsue: the main building and assembly hall of 1959 and the former prefectural museum of 1958 were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2019, and the museum annex of 1969 in 2021 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). All are owned by Shimane Prefecture.

According to the prefecture, the buildings around the government office came from a development plan carried out between 1955 and 1974, which won the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize in 1970 and was selected by DOCOMOMO Japan in 2019.

The Four Buildings

The main building stands on pilotis, its exposed concrete frame crossed by white eaves on every floor, and the assembly hall, linked to its south by a corridor, stresses horizontal lines (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The prefecture notes that both were designed by the building department of the Ministry of Construction.

The former museum and its annex are by Kikutake Kiyonori: each lifts its storage floor on columns above open lower floors, in white and black to suit the castle keep (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Shimane Prefecture). At the foot of the castle, postwar modernism meets the old castle town. Each building is described on its own page.

Visiting

The prefecture asks visitors to speak to the reception desk or office first, and to photograph only with permission and without showing other users; visits may be declined depending on use.