Imahan Annex Entrance Building

The Front of a Postwar Asakusa Restaurant

The Imahan Annex Entrance Building (今半別館玄関棟) is the entrance building of a restaurant of about 1950 in Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on September 19, 2003 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 66 square metres; registration number 13-0159.

An Entrance Set Back from the Lane

The Imahan Annex Entrance Building stands a step back from the back street that runs east of Nakamise-dori (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its hip-and-gable roof is clad in pantiles, and even on such a narrow plot the triangular gable reads clearly from the street.

Inside the single-storey building, two tatami rooms sit beside the entrance (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It is a small building with one job: to receive guests and pass them on to the South and North Wings behind.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered the Imahan Annex Entrance Building as a model of design, noting how skilfully a cramped plot was used to give an old restaurant a fitting front. Its description also records that the Mita branch of the Imahan head shop moved here after the war and reopened as an annex.

What to Look For

The thing to see is the hip-and-gable front, pulled back from the road. Standing outside, you notice how that short setback puts a little distance between the busy lane and the restaurant's door.

The restaurant's own page mentions that tourists often stop to photograph the building.

Visiting

The front of the Imahan Annex Entrance Building can be seen from the lane outside. The rooms beside the entrance are for dining guests, and no official information on visits without dining was found. The lane is busy, so keep clear of passers-by and the door when taking photographs.