Former Kaya Town Hall — 1929 Spanish Mission-style town hall in Yosano

Overview

Former Kaya Town Hall (旧加悦町役場庁舎) stands on Chirimen Kaido in the Kaya area of Yosano Town, Kyoto Prefecture. Built in 1929 to replace a town office that collapsed in the March 1927 North Tango earthquake (magnitude 7.3), it is a two‑storey wooden building crowned by a tiled hipped roof and notable for its Spanish Mission–inspired exterior. The building was designated a Kyoto Prefectural Tangible Cultural Property on 14 March 1997 and underwent a research‑led preservation and utilization renovation begun in July 2019 and completed on 19 March 2020.

History: earthquake, temporary offices and rebuild (1927–1929)

The prior Kaya town office was destroyed by the North Tango earthquake in March 1927. Operations resumed immediately in a room at the neighboring Kaya Elementary School, and a temporary office was built by May of the same year. Plans for a separate town assembly hall were revised when it became clear that the town office functions could not be secured in the temporary facility; instead a combined town hall and assembly building was commissioned.

Construction work began on 1 December 1928. After an eight‑month construction period and a topping‑out ceremony on 1 March 1929, the new building was completed on 20 July 1929. From the outset it was intended as a symbol of post‑quake recovery and modern building practice.

Design and architectural features

The building is a wooden, two‑storey structure with a hipped, tile‑covered roof and a total building area of 256.8 square metres. Its exterior is cream‑coloured and largely symmetric, capped by red tiles in the Spanish Mission style popular in some Japanese modern buildings of the period. Decorative elements are restrained: three medallions on the façade, arched window surrounds on the first floor, and an ornamented south entrance that originally served as the entrance to the council chamber.

Internally the ground floor’s north side housed the town mayor’s room and a reception room; the second floor contained the council chamber flanked by two anterooms. The building also incorporated modern technical choices for its era: reinforced concrete was used on exterior walls to reduce the risk of fire spread after an earthquake, and the overall plan is deliberately simple to improve seismic performance.

Contemporary observers have compared its exterior to Berrick Hall in Yokohama’s Yamate district, underlining the town’s prosperity during the period when the surrounding Chirimen Kaido streetscape developed.

Builders, funding and original team

The building’s design was by Hikotarō Imabayashi, an architect from Miyazu who served as the first head of the construction department at Obayashi Corporation. The construction was carried out under the direction of then Kaya town mayor Shōzō Bito and involved contractor Toshichi Tanabe; master carpenter Kamegai Kamekichi and construction supervisor Manshū Yamazaki also took part in the work.

Funding came from multiple local sources: a donation of ¥10,000 from Yoneji Sugimoto of the Nishiyama factory, ¥3,000 from a town building fund and a fiscal surplus of ¥8,500 from the first year of the Shōwa era.

Decline and the case for restoration (2002–2018)

By 2002 the building’s condition had deteriorated: floor decay and termite damage made the second floor unusable and after 2002 only the first floor remained in use. Early restoration planning dated back to 2003, but safety concerns and structural uncertainty prevented immediate work. A 2014 residents’ meeting reaffirmed local interest in restoring the whole building, and a 2015 preliminary survey documented advancing decay beneath the floors and urged further study.

Because the building combined historical, structural and aesthetic values, the town moved cautiously. In January 2018 a dedicated seismic retrofit study committee was formed with 14 specialists in architectural history, seismic engineering, materials and wood science. Large‑scale joint surveys followed in March and July 2018, each involving dozens of participants; the results were used for laboratory and full‑scale experiments and to develop an approach that would protect the building’s cultural value while restoring structural safety.

Reiwa major repair: research, findings and construction (2018–2020)

The pre‑construction investigations covered ground conditions and resonance, cultural‑heritage value and decorative elements, wood deterioration from rot and termites, timber species and strength estimates, detailed structural layouts and joint conditions, and fire‑resistance measures. One important technical discovery was that the original mortar mix included diatomaceous earth, which reduced cracking, and that an air cavity between inner and outer wall layers had helped keep timber sounder than expected.

Seismic performance was assessed using limit‑state (ultimate strength) calculation methods; a retrofit scheme that preserved historical fabric while adding discreet reinforcement was approved after third‑party review and a Kyoto Prefectural building review.

Work began on 17 July 2019 and intensified in August. Before laying new foundation concrete, soil termite treatment was applied; the foundation concrete was poured on 27 September 2019. During dismantling, floorboards were carefully numbered and stored so they could be returned to their original positions. New perimeter drainage and side ditches were formed to prevent rain and meltwater entering the sub‑floor, and where foundation elements had rotted they were repaired or replaced by traditional techniques such as root‑splicing of corner posts.

Seismic reinforcement included the insertion of a new steel beam on the west side and four new independent columns on the first floor to support it. Because cranes could not be used inside the building, steel beams—each weighing up to about 400 kg—were cut down, carried in by hand and installed over two days. The visible interior finish of the new bracing was executed in wood to preserve the room atmosphere.

Conservation work addressed the roof, ceilings and walls: tiles were removed, cleaned, inspected and reinstalled with only unrecoverable tiles replaced; the council chamber’s walls were identified as cream‑coloured Otsu plaster and restored as such; surviving original veneer ceiling boards were repaired and reinstated and missing boards were replaced with matching veneer. Repairs also included crack injection of the outer finish, gutter replacement, and the removal of a post‑2006 ramp that had inhibited underfloor ventilation.

Because the project received national subsidy support, a Cultural Affairs Agency inspector visited on 11 October 2019 to consult on specifications for the council chamber ceiling. The preservation and utilization renovation was declared complete on 19 March 2020. Total project cost was ¥110,347,000.

After the renovation: use and management

Following the renovation the building opened as a tourism and exchange venue on 1 April after the works, and is managed under the designated management system by the Yosano Town Tourism Association, the Yosano regional office of the Umi no Kyoto DMO. The first floor houses a tourist information desk, a rest area and exhibition spaces in the former mayor’s room and former reception room. Two structural models—one representing the building before repair, the other after—were donated by architecture students who graduated in March 2019 and March 2020 from Kyoto prefectural high schools in Miyazu and are displayed in the building.

The second‑floor council chamber is normally open to the public and is also available as a reservation‑based rental room. The building remains a component cultural property of the Japanese Heritage titled “Tango Chirimen Corridor,” and its restoration aimed to balance preservation of original design and materials with measures that secure safety and long‑term maintenance.

FAQ

When was the current Former Kaya Town Hall completed?

It was completed on 20 July 1929.

Why was the 1929 building constructed?

It replaced the previous town office that collapsed in the March 1927 North Tango earthquake (magnitude 7.3).

When was the preservation and utilization renovation completed?

The renovation was completed on 19 March 2020.

Who manages the building now?

The Yosano Town Tourism Association, as the Yosano regional office of the Umi no Kyoto DMO, manages its maintenance under a designated management system.