One Bank Building, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property since 2025
Former Sanin Godo Bank Neu Branch (旧山陰合同銀行根雨支店店舗) stands at 466 Yashiki, Neu, Hino Town, Hino District, Tottori Prefecture, a Showa-period building entered on the register of tangible cultural properties on 13 March 2025. It is a registered property rather than a designated one.
The quantity is one building. The owner is Hino Town.
The structure is timber, single-storeyed, roofed in sheet iron, with a floor area of 126 square metres. The date field reads early Showa and the year field 1927.
A Front Set Out in Western Members
The record describes the front in the vocabulary of Western architecture.
The Agency records pilasters of the giant order ranged across the front, tiling around the windows, a cornice carried round the eaves, and at the centre a pediment raised and set with a relief.
An order is a manner of setting column to beam; a pilaster is a column raised in relief from the wall; a cornice is the moulding that runs along the eaves; a pediment is the triangular head set below a roof.
The giant order runs the height of more than one storey. This building is single-storeyed, and yet pilasters of that height stand across its front.
At Rokuzankan, spire, rose window and round-headed windows are set out one by one. Those are members of a church.
Here the Western members are column, eaves and gable: the bones of the front. The structure behind them is timber.
An Open Well Within, Its Ceiling Coved
Single-storeyed, and yet its height is taken up within.
The Agency records that the front part of the interior is open to the roof, its ceiling coved and set with an ornament at the centre.
A coved ceiling is raised at its edges so that the middle stands higher. The ornament sits at that middle.
At Takegawara Onsen, a great matted room with alcove and shelves occupies the upper floor. There the height comes from stacking storeys.
Here the building stays single-storeyed and takes its height from the open well and the coved ceiling.
At 126 square metres it is small for a single-storeyed building. It is the front part alone that opens up.
Registered on the Same Day as a Bathhouse in Kyushu
Two properties in distant prefectures went on the register together.
The registration date is 13 March 2025.
The Old University Bath in Fukuoka carries the same date. That is a bathhouse of 1932; this is a bank of 1927.
At Kannonshoji and Shotokukan, buildings on one set of grounds were registered together.
This building and that bathhouse stand in Tottori and Fukuoka, and serve unlike purposes. Their registration dates agree all the same.
Registrations are announced in batches, so a shared date need not mean any connection between the properties.
Visiting
The building stands at 466 Yashiki, Neu, Hino Town, Hino District, Tottori Prefecture, owned by the town.
The Agency records a bank building facing east onto the Izumo highway.
It is timber, hipped, roofed in sheet iron. The front follows Western manner; the roof is hipped and laid in iron.
The record closes that it is a bank building with the outward look of the early Showa years.
Its name carries the word former: its days as a bank are over, and the town holds it. Opening and terms follow the owner's arrangements. Check before travelling.
Q&A
- When was it registered?
- On 13 March 2025, as a registered tangible cultural property. It is registered rather than designated, and the quantity is one building.
- What is the front like?
- Pilasters of the giant order ranged across it, tiling around the windows, a cornice round the eaves, and a pediment at the centre set with a relief.
- What is the interior like?
- The front part is open to the roof, with a coved ceiling and an ornament at its centre. The height is taken within a single storey.
- How large is it?
- A floor area of 126 square metres, timber and single-storeyed, hipped and roofed in sheet iron.
- What is valued in it?
- That it is a bank building with the outward look of the early Showa years.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Sanin Godo Bank Neu Branch (旧山陰合同銀行根雨支店店舗); the word former in its name marks that its days as a bank are over |
|---|---|
| Location | 466 Yashiki, Neu, Hino Town, Hino District, Tottori Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered tangible cultural property (structure); registered rather than designated |
| Year Designated | 2025 (13 March), registered |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single-storeyed, roofed in sheet iron, with a floor area of 126 square metres. It faces east onto the Izumo highway, timber and hipped in sheet iron, the front part of the interior open to the roof with a coved ceiling and a central ornament. Across the front stand pilasters of the giant order, with tiling around the windows, a cornice round the eaves and a pediment at the centre set with a relief. The date field reads early Showa and the year field 1927 |
| Owner | Hino Town |
| Public Access | Owned by the town; opening and terms follow the owner's arrangements |
References
- Cultural Heritage Online: the former bank branch at Neu
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/607726
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/
- Hino Town
- https://www.town.hino.tottori.jp/1281.htm
- Tottori Prefecture: cultural properties
- https://www.pref.tottori.lg.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.17