Hyogo Castle - First Prefectural Office

When Hyogo Jin'ya was abolished at the end of the Edo Period, its story did not end. The new Meiji government built the first prefectural office (初代県庁舎) in the old castle/jin'ya compound, repurposing the surviving buildings. The buildings were too small and in poor condition to meet the needs of th

Hyogo Castle - Hyogo Castle - First Prefectural Office

初代県庁舎

When Hyogo Jin'ya was abolished at the end of the Edo Period, its story did not end. The new Meiji government built the first prefectural office (初代県庁舎) in the old castle/jin'ya compound, repurposing the surviving buildings.

The buildings were too small and in poor condition to meet the needs of the newly created Hyogo Prefecture, so this first prefectural office stood for only about a year before being replaced by a more formal building elsewhere.

Today, on the corner of the former castle site beside the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History, a faithful reconstruction of that short-lived office has been reconstructed. Known as the 初代県庁館, it reproduces the structure that bridged the Edo and Meiji worlds. In effect, it is a reconstruction of the Hyogo Jin’ya buildings. That the prefecture chose to rebuild this transitional set of structures memorializes this transformation.

It’s often mentioned only in passing on other castle sites and blogs, but for us castle enthusiasts, this building deserves recognition as a tangible link between Hyōgo Castle, Hyogo Jin’ya, and the new modern Hyogo Prefecture.

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Hyogo Castle - First Prefectural Office