is a former bank building located in the city of

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectur ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The building is an example of

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

western style architecture in Japan, and is listed as an Important Cultural Property. The building is now used as a museum.

Overview

The building was initially constructed as the head office of the Morioka Bank, and is located at the foot of Nakanobashi Bridge, which crosses the Nakatsu River in Morioka. Work began in May 1908 and was completed in April 1911. The Morioka Bank went out of business in 1933, and the building was acquired by the Iwate Shokusan Bank in 1936, and became its head office. The bank's name was changed to the Bank of Iwate in 1960. It continued to be used as the bank's head office until a modern building was completed in 1983. It continued to be used as a brand office of the bank even after the building's designation as an Important Cultural Property, until 2012. The interior of the building was repaired and restored to its Meiji period appearance, and the building was opened to the public in 2016.
Bank of Iwate Red Brick Building Official home page The main architect of the building was

Tatsuno Kingo was a Japanese architect born in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, Kyushu. Doctor of Engineering. Conferred Jusanmi (従三位, Junior Third Rank) and Kunsanto (勲三等, Order of Third Class). Former dean of Architecture Department at Tokyo Imperial ...

, who also designed the head office of the

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It has its headquarters in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. History Like most modern Japanese instituti ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. This is the only one of his works in the Tohoku region of Japan. Tatsuno was assisted by Morioka-native Kasai Manji. The unique characteristics of the building is that it has an octagonal domed tower in the southeast corner, a square tower in the southwest corner, and Japanese-style ''irimoya-zukuri'' gable roofs protruding from the sides. The outer wall is made of red brick and with stripes of white granite. Inside, there is a corridor on the second floor surrounding the colonnade on the first floor. About 910,000 bricks from Iwate prefecture are used for building materials, and Aomori ''Hiba'' cypress wood is used for the interior. Although the building is distinguished by its use of red bricks, it was painted white from 1936 until 1958 and was called the "White Meijikan".

Current status

Currently, the interior is divided into a free "Iwate Bank Zone" and a paid "Morioka Bank Zone". The Iwate Bank Zone has a multi-purpose hall with refurbished business rooms and a library lounge that introduces the history of industry and commerce in Morioka. In the Morioka Bank Zone is a reception room and a safe room that has been used since the bank's opening. There is also a corner that introduces the financial history of Iwate Prefecture, and a theater that introduces the history and structure of the buildings.

References

External links

Official Home page

{{Authority control Important Cultural Properties of Japan Commercial buildings completed in 1911 Morioka, Iwate Buildings of the Meiji period Museums in Iwate Prefecture 1911 establishments in Japan Bank buildings