Meiji Jingu's Treasure House: Concrete Dressed as a Timber Storehouse

Meiji Jingu's Treasure House is a concrete building in the costume of a timber one. Finished in 1921 to keep the Emperor Meiji's belongings safe from fire and earthquake, it was built entirely of reinforced concrete and then dressed to look like an ancient wooden storehouse. The shrine's wooden halls burned in the air raid of April 1945. The Treasure House is still the 1921 building.

The problem a wooden shrine had

Meiji Jingu was founded on 1 November 1920, and its halls were wood. Wood is the right material for a shrine and the wrong one for a vault. The shrine wanted to keep the emperor's own things here: in its words, his everyday desk, his writing things, the books he liked to read, and the carriage he rode in. Those needed a building that would not burn with the rest.

The answer arrived at the end of October 1921, a year after the shrine itself. It was designed by Oe Shintaro of the Meiji Jingu Construction Bureau, according to the national heritage register, and the register is precise about the engineering. For earthquake and fire resistance, the whole building is reinforced concrete, and its central store encloses one great room of about 30 metres east to west and 15 metres north to south.

The costume

Here is the trick. Having built a modern fireproof box, the designers wrapped it in a much older idea. The shrine says the design imitates the azekura style of the Shosoin at Nara, the log storehouse at Todai-ji that has held its treasures since the Nara period, and it calls the result an azekura-style raised-floor building. The walls are faced in granite. The shrine describes the blend as a skilful mix of Japanese and Western, sturdy and graceful at once.

That combination is what makes the building matter. The heritage register counts it among the very first Japanese-style buildings in the country made wholly of reinforced concrete. Be careful with that claim: it is not the first concrete building in Japan, only one of the earliest to put a traditional Japanese face on a concrete frame. In June 2011 it was designated a national Important Cultural Property, and the designation covers the whole composition: the main gate, the central store, the east and west stores, the bridging corridors, the carriage porch and the office.

What you can actually see

From the walk you see the front, and only partly. At stop 3 the route runs along the gravel path at the edge of the lawn, and the long pale stone front shows through the trees across the forecourt. Look for symmetry: a long front, a central stair and lower wings on either side under red-brown roofs. The building is a stage set for an idea of the past, played by a material that was new at the time.

The Treasure House opens only for announced periods, so on most days this is a view from outside. It was closed for restoration from 2017 and reopened in 2021. Its original job has since moved: the emperor's and empress's belongings are now shown at the Meiji Jingu Museum, opened in 2019 for the shrine's centenary, which you pass near the end of the walk.

Why it is a good forest stop

The Treasure House answers the same question as the woods around it. The foresters planned trees that would survive Tokyo a century on. The builders planned a store that would survive fire. In 1945 the halls burned, the forest held, and this concrete storehouse is still standing in its timber costume. Two kinds of foresight, side by side at the edge of one lawn.

You can stand here as long as you like. On a self-guided walk there is no group to keep pace with, and if the building is closed the front is still worth a few minutes before you move on to the west approach.

The Treasure House is stop 3 of Meiji Jingu: A Forest Built to Outlive Its Builders. For the whole walk, read the Meiji Jingu forest companion, and see every route on the Tokyo page.

Sources

• Meiji Jingu, Treasure House page (宝物殿): completed at the end of October 1921, modelled on the azekura log-store style of the Shosoin at Nara, granite-faced, early reinforced concrete, Important Cultural Property in June 2011, closed for restoration from 2017 and reopened in 2021, opened only for limited periods, and the emperor's desk, writing things, books and carriage.
• Agency for Cultural Affairs, Cultural Heritage Online, Meiji Jingu Treasure House: designed by Oe Shintaro of the Meiji Jingu Construction Bureau, completed 1921, wholly reinforced concrete for earthquake and fire, the 30 by 15 metre central store, among the very first Japanese-style buildings in wholly reinforced concrete, designated 20 June 2011, the parts covered.
• Meiji Jingu, precinct map (English): the Treasure Museum shown as currently closed.
• Nara City Tourism, Shosoin Repository: the Shosoin as Todai-ji's azekura log storehouse, holding its treasures since the Nara period.
• Meiji Jingu Museum (English): the 2019 museum that now shows the imperial belongings.