Chiayi City Historical Relics Museum

Chiayi City Historical Relics Museum

The Chiayi City Historical Relics Museum is situated within Chiayi Park in Chiayi City, Taiwan. The two buildings were originally the Shai-kan (seclusion house) and Shomu-sho (office building) that belonged to the Chiayi Shrine during the Japanese colonial era. Recognized as a municipal historic site, it was built in 1943. The Shai-kan was used for purification and preparation prior to shrine worship, while the Shomu-sho served as the administrative office of the shrine.

The museum uses a combination of old and new photographs and multimedia interactive displays to present the historical and cultural development of Chiayi, including school songs from various educational levels and the beauty of municipal historic architecture. The museum consists of two buildings designed in the traditional Japanese “shoin-zukuri” architectural style, featuring a roof in the “irimoya” style, which is similar to the traditional Chinese hip-and-gable roof. Their eaves, ridges, hafu (gable ornaments), kudarimune (descending ridges), and chuudai (central ridges) all incorporate Japanese architectural elements. The upper part of the outer walls features ship-shaped bracket arms, while the lower section adopts a “shinpi” (solid wall) style. The foundation is a low-level stilts-style structure, and the doors are mostly sliding doors, with only a few being hinged. Windows come in four types: fixed glass sliding windows, fixed grille windows, fixed grilles with sliding glass, and paper sliding windows. The Shai-kan, Shomu-sho, Temizuya (hand-washing pavilion), and Sajiki-ko (ritual utensil storage) are representative examples of residential culture left by the Japanese, among which the Sajiki-ko has an exterior wall made of concrete that mimics wooden construction—an unusual feature. The Shai-kan covers an area of 267 square meters, and the Shomu-sho spans 208 square meters. The two structures are connected by a corridor; if this central passageway is considered the axis, it forms a considerably sized unified space with elegant artistic expression and high craftsmanship reference value. The Japanese “shoin-zukuri” wooden structures are unique, exquisitely constructed, and artistically refined, making them extremely rare in the Taiwan-Min region.