Taishō
Tokushima · 大正Browse Tokushima’s cultural heritage from the Taishō period (1912 – 1926). Filter by type and keyword, with concise stories, maps, and travel tips.
The Kakimoto Family Barrack in Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture, is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property and one of the only surviving wooden barracks from the Bandō Prisoner of War Camp, where German prisoners gave the first complete performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Asia in 1918. Discover its history, the moving Japanese-German friendship it represents, and how to visit the nearby Naruto German House and German Village Park.
The Former Kashino Family Residence in Matsushige, Tokushima Prefecture, is a grand two-story wooden residence built between 1915 and 1925 by the Kashino family, who prospered through the lime trade. Featuring an irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof and a building area of 381 square meters, this lavishly crafted mansion was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 1999 and now serves as the Kashino Club wedding venue.
Sadamitsu Theater (Sadamitsu Gekijo) is a striking wooden playhouse built in 1932 in the heart of an old merchant town in western Tokushima. Originally a shibai-goya, it was converted to a cinema in 1949 and operated until 2011, ending an unbroken run as Tokushima's longest-running movie theater. Distinctive features include a copper-clad gabled roof, a grand arched façade, sajiki box seats around the perimeter, and original Showa-era advertisements still visible on the coffered ceiling. Registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property on August 6, 2025, the theater stands at the center of Sadamitsu's celebrated two-tiered udatsu townscape.
The inner sanctuary of Jizoji in Tokushima, rebuilt in 1922 after a fire, sets three halls in a U-shape where some two hundred life-size wooden rakan stand.
Discover Takeyashiki-dō, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Tsurugi Town, Tokushima. This Taishō-period pilgrimage hall serves as the 35th station of the Hata-Shikoku 88 Sacred Sites route, featuring traditional hōgyō-zukuri architecture amid the mountains of western Tokushima.
The Tahoto (multi-treasure pagoda) at Tatsue-ji, the 19th temple of the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage in Komatsushima City, Tokushima Prefecture. Built in 1923 during the Taishō era, this elegant wooden two-story pagoda faithfully inherits the traditional tahoto form while incorporating exquisite carvings and a raised coffered ceiling characteristic of modern craftsmanship. It was registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2024.
Completed in 1926, this brick-and-granite well-house of barely 21 square metres held the intake of Tokushima's first modern water supply, matching the plant's design.
Completed in 1926, this is the only round building of the Sako plant's three registered structures, a cylindrical brick-and-granite well-house about 5.1 metres high.
Completed in 1926 for Tokushima's first modern water supply, this English-bond red-brick pump station became the prefecture's first registered cultural property.
Discover the Hyakunen-gura Smokestack in Miyoshi City, Tokushima — a 9.6-meter brick chimney built in 1922 that once served a local sake brewery. Inscribed with the historic brand name Gishi-shin, this Registered Tangible Cultural Property stands as a quiet witness to Japan's regional industrial heritage.
Standing at the confluence of the Yoshino and Iya rivers in Miyoshi City, Tokushima, the Hyakunengura Former Sake Brewery is a large wooden two-story building completed in 1922. Recognized as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2010, it is celebrated for its luminous, vertically-oriented interior and now serves as a venue for antique displays and live music events.
Completed in 1921, Matsusaka Tunnel in Mugi Town, Tokushima Prefecture, is recognized as Japan's oldest surviving cast-in-place concrete road tunnel. A Registered Tangible Cultural Property, it stands as the centerpiece of the 2-kilometer Uchizuma Hydrangea Road, where 4,000 hydrangeas bloom each June.