The Akita Shokai Building is a unique building with a blend of Japanese and Western styles that represents the history of modern architecture in Japan.
It is a steel-framed reinforced concrete structure with three stories above ground and one below, with a tower roof, a Japanese garden on the roof, and a tea ceremony room (detached tatami room).
The first floor is a purely Western-style office space, and the second and third floors are a prestigious shoin-style residence.
It is one of the oldest reinforced concrete buildings in Japan.
Akita Shokai was a general trading company that made great strides during the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, amassing enormous assets by transporting lumber and foodstuffs for construction, and built the Akita Shokai Building in 1915 at a strategic transportation point facing Shimonoseki Port.
Currently, the interior of the building (excluding the rooftop) is open to the public as a tourist information center.
The building is illuminated at night.
10:30 - 15:00 (last admission at 14:40)
Tuesdays and Wednesdays
December 29 - January 3
Free admission
15 min. by car from Shimonoseki IC on Chugoku Expressway
7 min. by bus from JR Shimonoseki Station → 1 min. walk from Karato bus stop