Former Kaichi School

The former Kaichi School in Matsumoto is one of Japan's earliest purpose-built modern school buildings, erected in 1876 following the Meiji government's landmark education reforms of 1872. Its architecture is a striking hybrid: a Western-influenced decorative facade — complete with baroque-style dormer and ornamental balcony — constructed entirely by local Japanese carpenters who worked from illustrations of European buildings, without a single foreign architect involved. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 1961 and later a National Treasure, the wooden structure was physically relocated in 1963 to make way for works on the Metoba River. Since 1965 it has operated as an education museum, displaying Meiji-era textbooks, school uniforms, and classroom equipment that document Japan's rapid transformation from feudal to modern schooling.