Omihachiman (2) – Vories Architecture

As introduced in the last post, Omihachiman is the hometown of Omi merchants and has a lot of Japanese-style houses left by rich merchants. At the same time, many buildings designed by William Merrell Vories, who came to Japan from the US in 1905 and left many Western Style buildings, particularly in Kansai, remain in the town. Vories came to Japan when he was 25 years old as an English teacher at Hachiman Commercial High School, and lived in Omihachiman until he died at 83 years. He carried out social contribution activities based on Christianity, and engaged in business activities including construction and pharmaceuticals to support the social contribution activities. Omi Brotherhood, famous for Mentholatum, is a companies established by him. This time, I’d like to check out the buildings left by him in Omihachiman.

1. Western Houses in Ikedamachi
2. Former Chuda Residence (Himure Café)
3. Hyde Memorial Hall and Education Hall
4. Vories Memorial Hall
5. Old Hachiman Post Office
6. Andrews Memorial Hall
7. Rectory of Omihachiman Church (Chienryo)
8. Local History Museum

1. Western Houses in Ikedamachi
About 2 kilometers northwest of JR Omihachiman Station, there is an area in which Western houses designed by Vories stand in a line. Built as a dormitory for missionaries, the colonial style residences feature a brick wall, tall chimney and spacious garden. The street along which the red brick walls continue has a unique atmosphere, but the area isn’t a tourist spot but a residential street, and so a certain level of consideration is required when you walk there.

2. Former Chuda Residence (Himure Café)
Club Harie, which is a Western confectionery division of the long-established Japanese confectionery shop in Omihachiman, Taneya, has Himure Café in the shop. The back of the café leads to a two-storied building, which is the Former Chuda Residence designed by Vories and built in 1936. The building has 4 rooms, each having a name. They are the reservation system of special rooms of the café. Each room has a very good atmosphere. If you have tea there on a specific day with specified persons, it may become a good memory. The Japanese confectionery shop, Taneya, started producing Western confectionery on the recommendation of Vories.

3. Hyde Memorial Hall and Education Hall
This is a building donated by Albert Alexander Hyde, who was an American businessman and a founder of Mentholatum Company Inc., designed by Vories as a kindergarten building, and built in 1931. The facility was used as the kindergarten until 2003; since then, it has been open to the public as a memorial hall. A building used as a lecture hall or gymnastic hall was also built at the same time; it was also open to the public as Education Hall. In 1937, Helen Keller gave a speech in this hall.

4. Vories Memorial Hall
This simple two-story wooden clapboard house, designed by Vories and completed in 1931, was the home of Vories and his wife Makiko in the latter part of their lives. The building now displays memorabilia from Vories’s life. The appearance of the building is frugal, but it has Japanese-style rooms in addition to Western-style rooms, which indicates that Vories was excessively careful in deference to his Japanese wife. Vories naturalized in Japan and his Japanese name is 一柳米来留 (Mereru Hitotsuyanagi).

5. Old Hachiman Post Office
Built in 1921 and used as a post office until 1960, this Spanish-style two-storied building has played a role as a landmark in the center part of the old city area. The entrance part was unfortunately demolished, but it was reconstructed in 2004. Now, the building is used as a multi-purpose space; for example, as a gallery or event venue.

6. Andrews Memorial Hall
This building was constructed in 1907 as the Omihachiman YMCA and dedicated to the memory of Herbert Andrews, who was a friend of Vories in his college days. The building was Vories’s first architectural work. The mission as the YMCA hall ended in 1987 due to the deterioration of the building, but the preservation and resurrection is now planned.

7. Parsonage of Omihachiman Church (Chienryo)
This was built in 1940 as a dormitory for singles of Omi Brotherhood Company. The building was given to Omihachiman Church, having intimate relations with Omi Brotherhood Company in 1984, and has been used as a rectory of the church, in which rooms on the first floor are used as a meeting place or conference room, and rooms on the second floor are used as a residence of a parson’s family. The appearance of the building remains as it was when the building was originally built.

8. Local History Museum
The Western-style building, written about in the last post, was designed as a police office building by Vories.

9. Hakuunkan Hall
Vories didn’t build this building, but it is a beautiful imitation of Western-style architecture. The building was built in 1877 as a school building, then was used as a town office or bank office building, and now is used as a tourist information center. I recommend you to visit the building when you go to Omihachiman.