What Is the Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building?
The Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building (Former Dyeing Room and Former Boiler Room) (羽前絹練株式会社染色棟（旧染色室及び旧汽罐室）, Senshoku-tō) is the dye house of a working silk scouring works in Shinkaicho, Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, where cloth is dyed after scouring; its oldest part was built in 1929, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 3 December 2024. It is a single-storey timber building with a footprint of 238 square meters.
The Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building stands on the west side of the scouring building. As the words in brackets suggest, it began as two separate buildings, a dyeing room and a boiler room (kikanshitsu), which are now used together as one dye house.
Three Roofs, Three Building Phases
The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building to three phases: 1929, around 1933, and the mid-Showa period. The dyeing room on the west came first. The boiler room was then added to its east, and the gap between the two was closed with a sheet-metal roof.
You can read that sequence in the roofing. The former dyeing room is covered in pantiles (Sangawara-buki), the former boiler room in cement tiles, and the link between them in corrugated metal. Three roofing materials on one modest building is the most distinctive thing about the Uzen Kenren dye house.
The building was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, and the agency notes that its pieced-together exterior shows how the factory grew. Uzen Kenren started out purely as a scourer and later added a dyeing department; the Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building is where that dyeing has been done.
Two Ridge Vents for Dye Steam
Inside, each of the two parts of the Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building is a single room with an earth floor. Each carries its own raised ridge vent (Koshi-yane) at the centre of its roof, so two small secondary roofs sit side by side.
According to Tsuruoka City, these vents let out the steam rising from the dye baths. Dyeing silk means working with hot liquor, and the vapour has to go somewhere.
Compare them with the vent on the scouring building next door: here each part has its own, placed at the middle of its own ridge, a reminder that the two halves were built at different times.
Visiting the Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building
The Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building (Former Dyeing Room and Former Boiler Room) is a working part of the factory and is not open to visitors. As of 28 September 2026 no public tours were listed by the company or by Tsuruoka City.
The dye house sits inside the works, so what can be seen from outside is limited. Please stay on the public road and do not enter the site; keep any photographs to what is visible from the street.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Yamagata
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Q&A
- What is the Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building?
- It is the dye house of the Uzen Kenren silk works in Tsuruoka, where scoured silk is dyed. It combines a former dyeing room and a former boiler room joined under a metal roof.
- When was the Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building built?
- The dyeing room dates from 1929; the boiler room was added around 1933, with further work in the mid-Showa period.
- What is unusual about the roof of the Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building?
- It uses three materials: pantiles on the old dyeing room, cement tiles on the old boiler room and sheet metal on the link, which shows the order in which it was built. Each part has a ridge vent to release steam.
- When did the Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building become a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- On 3 December 2024, as registration number 06-0224, for an exterior that records the factory's growth through successive additions.
- Can I visit the Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building?
- No. It is a working part of the factory and its interior is closed; it can only be seen from outside the site.
Basic Information
| Name | Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building (Former Dyeing Room and Former Boiler Room) (羽前絹練株式会社染色棟（旧染色室及び旧汽罐室）) |
|---|---|
| Location | 21-5 Shinkaicho, Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, etc. |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), No. 06-0224 |
| Year Designated | Registered 3 December 2024 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, single storey, tile and sheet-metal roof, building area 238 square meters |
| Owner | Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Closed to the public (working factory) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building (Former Dyeing Room and Former Boiler Room) (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00015134
- Cultural Heritage Online: Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. Dyeing Building (Former Dyeing Room and Former Boiler Room) (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/565338
- Uzen Kenren Co., Ltd. and the seven buildings recommended for registration (Tsuruoka City, PDF, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.tsuruoka.lg.jp/bunka/rekishi/uzenkenren.files/uzenkenren.pdf
- Uzen Kenren Scouring Building and six others (Yamagata Prefecture, PDF, in Japanese)
- https://www100.pref.yamagata.jp/documents/19483/touroku_uzen.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.28
