Iwate Bank Red Brick Building

The Iwate Bank Red Brick Building is a representative example of modern Western-style architecture from the Meiji period, located on Nakanohashi-dori in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture. Construction began in 1908 (Meiji 41), and after about three years of work, it was completed in April 1911 (Meiji 44) and opened in May of that same year as the former Morioka Bank head office. It was designed by the Tatsuno-Kazai Architectural Office, led by Kingo Tatsuno—known for the Marunouchi Station Building at Tokyo Station—and Manji Kasai, an architect from Morioka. It is the only surviving work in the Tohoku region designed by Kingo Tatsuno.

The exterior features red brick walls accented with white granite bands. The first-floor windows have lintels, while the second-floor windows are arched. An octagonal tower topped with a green copper-roofed dome stands at the southeast corner, and a rectangular tower is placed on the south side. Dormer windows on the roof give the building a stately yet graceful Renaissance-style appearance. The roof combines slate and copper roofing, creating a harmonious landscape of red brick, granite, and the green dome. Inside, the lobby and banking hall are designed with open, double-height spaces, and a corridor runs along the second floor. Decorative plaster motifs and engaged columns adorn the ceilings and pillars, preserving the luxurious beauty of Meiji-era bank architecture.

Although it was originally used as the head office of Morioka Bank, after the bank failed in 1936 (Showa 11), Iwate Shokusan Bank purchased the building and used it as its head office. During this period, the exterior walls were painted white, earning it the nickname “the White Meiji Hall,” and it retained that appearance until around 1958 (Showa 33). In 1983 (Showa 58), when Iwate Bank—renamed from Iwate Shokusan Bank—completed its new headquarters, the building became the Nakanohashi Branch. While still in active use as a bank building, it was designated a National Important Cultural Property on December 27, 1994 (Heisei 6), the first active bank building ever to receive this designation.

Banking operations ended on August 3, 2012 (Heisei 24), and a preservation and restoration project lasting about three and a half years was carried out under the ownership of Iwate Bank. On July 17, 2016 (Heisei 28), it was opened to the public as the “Iwate Bank Red Brick Building.” Located at the foot of Nakanohashi in the center of the city, on the banks of the Nakatsu River, it forms an iconic streetscape together with the surrounding townscape of Morioka.

The interior is divided into the free “Iwate Bank Zone” and the paid “Morioka Bank Zone.” The free zone includes a multipurpose hall and a library lounge introducing Morioka’s industrial and commercial history. In the paid zone, visitors can see the reception room and banking hall as they were at the time of the building’s founding, as well as the surviving large vault room. Exhibits also present the history of finance in Iwate Prefecture and the building’s structure and restoration process through videos and materials, offering a place of learning from both architectural and local-history perspectives.

The contrast between the red brick and granite, the green domed roof, and the elegant Renaissance-style design strongly reflect Kingo Tatsuno’s style and the characteristics of Meiji-period Western-style architecture. As a valuable architectural heritage symbolizing Morioka’s history and culture, it continues to be beloved by many people today.