Meiji-mura

Meiji Mura in Inuyama preserves the main lobby of the oldFrank Lloyd Wright-designedImperial Hotel

Meiji-mura(Bác vật quán minh trị thôn,Hakubutsukan Meiji-mura,"Meiji Village Museum" )is an open-air architectural museum/theme park inInuyama,nearNagoyainAichiprefecture,Japan.It was opened on March 18, 1965. The museum preserves historic buildings from Japan'sMeiji(1867–1912),Taishō(1912–1926), and earlyShōwa(1926–1945) periods. Over 60 historical buildings have been moved and reconstructed onto 1 square kilometre (250 acres) of rolling hills alongsideLake Iruka.The most noteworthy building there is the reconstructed main entrance and lobby ofFrank Lloyd Wright's landmarkImperial Hotel,which originally stood in Tokyo from 1923 to 1967, when the main structure was demolished to make way for a new, larger version of the hotel.

History

Main street of the village

Approximately 1000 cherry blossoms bloom in the village in spring (Shimbashi Factory of the Japan Railway Bureau)

The Meiji era was a period of rapid change in Japan. After centuries of isolation, Japan began to incorporate ideas from the west, including building styles and construction techniques.

Meiji-mura was started byYoshirō Taniguchi( cốc khẩu cát lang Taniguchi Yoshirō 1904–79), an architect, andMotoo Tsuchikawa( thổ xuyên nguyên phu Tsuchikawa Moto-o, 1903–74), then vice president and later president ofNagoya Railroad(Meitetsu). While riding the Yamanote line in Tokyo, Taniguchi lamented the sight of the demolition of theRokumeikan,a symbol of Meiji era architecture. He appealed to his college classmate Tsuchikawa to join him in working to preserve western style Meiji era buildings of cultural or historical importance. On July 16, 1962 they formed a foundation for this purpose, with Nagoya Railroad providing the funding. Meiji-mura was opened on March 18, 1965 on the banks of the Lake Iruka reservoir, operated under Nagoya Railroad with Taniguchi as museum director, with 15 buildings.

Meiji-mura's goal is to preserve these historic early examples of western architecture mixed with Japanese construction techniques and materials. Incidentally, many of the buildings were saved from demolition during the post World War II period, another time of transition and rapid progress in Japanese history.

Though it is still operated by Nagoya Railroad, a subsidiary company was created in 2003 to oversee it and nearbyLittle World.Due to the recent financial declines with Nagoya Railroad the future of the park is in question. While renovations had been put on hold for a time, work on moving the Shibakawa Yashiki from Nishinomiya, Hyōgo was begun in January 2005.

Buildings

Notable buildings of historical or cultural importance including those of later eras are preserved, including a few Japanese style buildings. Eleven of the buildings are designated as Important Cultural Assets, and nearly all the rest are registered as tangible cultural assets. The museum includes buildings from Hawaii and Seattle in the United States, and also Brazil. A steam locomotive and street car, along with shuttle buses and horse-drawn carriages, provide transportation within the grounds. An operational historic post office is included among the 67 buildings (as of 2005). Though some buildings are somewhat empty, others have displays showing the history of the building and period, period furniture, and other displays.

The entrance and lobby of the Imperial Hotel was saved and moved from Tokyo between 1967 and 1985. Though only the entrance and lobby remain, it is the largest structure in Meiji Mura.

Other structures preserved at Meiji Mura includeLafcadio Hearn'ssummer housefromShizuoka(1868), St. John's Church fromKyoto(1907) designed byJames McDonald Gardinerand Kyoto's old St. Francis Xavier Catholic Cathedral (1890). The former cathedral is available to rent for weddings.

One of the traditional merchant houses that survived from Nagoya is the Tōmatsu House ( đông tùng gia trụ trạch,Tōmatsu-ka jūtaku), which was constructed in 1901 inFunairi-chō, Nagoya.It survived thebombing of Nagoya in World War IIand was relocated to the museum in the 1970s. It has been designated by the government as an Important Cultural Property.

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  "Kikunoyo" Brewery
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  Barrack, Sixth Infantry Regiment
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  Kitasato Institute
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  Auditorium, Chihaya-Akasaka Primary School
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  Mie Prefectural Normal School
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  Mie Prefectural Office
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  Reception Hall of MarquisTsugumichi SaigoHouse
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  St. John's Church from Kyoto
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  St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral
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  Cabinet Library of Tokyo Imperial Palace
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  Kureha-za Theater, built in 1868
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  Japan Red Cross Society Central Hospital, built in 1890
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  Tōmatsu House from Funairi-chō, Nagoya, built in 1901
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  "Zagyo-so," Villa of PrinceKimmochi Saionji
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  Dynamically preserved Kyoto streetcar

Village chiefs

Famous Japanese actors have served as honorary village chief.

1. Musei Tokugawa(1965 ~ 1971)
2. Hisaya Morishige(1971 ~ 2004)
3. Shoichi Ozawa(2004 ~ 2012)
4. Sawako Agawa(2015 ~ present)

See also

• Showa-mura
• Taisho-mura
• Treaty of Portsmouth,1905 – see table used by Russian and Japanese negotiators
• Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum
• Greenfield Village

External links

Media related toMeiji-muraat Wikimedia Commons

• Official Meiji Mura site
• Article on Meiji Mura from Time Asia 2004/08/30