Landmarks・Shimonoseki & Kanmon

Former Akita Shokai BuildingKyu Akita Shokai Biru

Also known as: 旧秋田商会ビル

A 1915 building in Karato that once housed the trading firm Akita Shokai, with a branch in China, said to be western Japan’s first steel-reinforced-concrete office building. The ground floor is a purely Western-style office, the second and third floors are tatami rooms with shoji and a tokonoma, and the roof carries the Japanese garden Seikaen with a tea house. Since 1998 the ground floor has been a tourist information center.

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