The Beauty of Classic Japanese-Style Old Houses: Yuli’s “Yuli Credit Union”

Text & Photos /Cultural Renewal Stories

[Who is Yoshitaka Watanabe?]
Yoshitaka Watanabe is a Japanese architect who loves Taiwan’s Japanese-style architecture. He gained widespread attention for creating a Google Map of “Japanese Buildings in Taiwan.” From October 3–5 this year (2016), he was invited by Hualien’s Tourism Marketing Division to visit many Japanese-style buildings in Hualien and recorded numerous detailed hand-drawn sketches. Come and see how beautiful Taiwan’s Japanese-era buildings look through the eyes of a Japanese architect with us!

After leaving the “Hualien Yanliao Harbor Sugar Refinery Yamato Factory” in Hualien’s Guangfu Township, Watanabe next headed to Yuli Town, where he left behind exquisite hand-drawn sketches of the elegant “Yuli Credit Union,” nearby red-brick buildings, and a Japanese-style residence he spotted by chance on Bo’ai Road. Check it out with us at “Cultural Renewal Stories”!

According to the National Cultural Heritage Database, the “Yuli Credit Union” was initially established in 1917 (Taisho 6) as the “Limited Liability Yuli Credit Union” by five local gentry and Japanese individuals—Mr. Xu Ganjin from Yuli Branch Office of Hualien Port Office, along with Matsuo On’er, Nakamura Bun’go, Kawahara ?jirō, and Arata Jun’ichi. It was the first financial institution in Yuli, providing local deposit and loan services. Two years later, due to poor performance, it was reorganized into the “Guarantee Liability Yuli Credit Purchase, Sales, and Utilization Union,” expanding into purchasing and sales operations, which gradually helped put its business on track. By the Showa era, the organization’s operations were thriving.

In 1944 (Showa 19), the private credit unions under Hualien Port Office underwent major reforms and were placed under the administration of local governance bodies. The “Yuli Credit Purchase, Sales, and Utilization Union” merged with other agricultural groups in the town to form the “Yuli Town Agricultural Association,” while also taking over this building.

(Former site of Yuli Credit Union. Photo credit: Yoshitaka Watanabe)

According to the National Cultural Heritage Database, the “former site of Yuli Credit Union” is one of the earliest reinforced concrete structures in the Hualien area, featuring an eclectic mix of modern and neoclassical architectural styles. It has simple decorative moldings and a porch with ashlar Greek-style columns. The front façade is adorned with long rows of windows, while the exterior walls are predominantly gray exposed concrete, with only the raised base finished in ashlar. The Hualien County Cultural Affairs Bureau website states that this building was considered quite imposing for its time, earning it the nickname “Governor-General’s Office of Yuli” during the Japanese colonial period, and later known locally as the “Presidential Palace of Yuli” after the war.

“From the outside, it looks like reinforced concrete (RC), right? It’s a two-story building encircled by a cornice along the top, with regularly arranged dentils creating deep shadows. There’s a semi-circular arch with Greek-style features and an ashlar finish on the outer walls.” Watanabe meticulously documented the exterior characteristics of the former Yuli Credit Union, “It could be called a representative work of early reinforced concrete architecture. If possible, I hope the tiles and materials can be properly restored.”

(Watanabe’s hand-drawn sketch. Photo credit: Yoshitaka Watanabe)

After World War II, the wartime “Yuli Town Agricultural Association” was renamed several times, becoming the “Yuli Town Farmers’ Association,” “Yuli Town Agricultural Association,” and “Yuli Town Cooperative,” among others. In 1975, it merged with the Zhuoxi Township Farmers’ Association to become the current “Yuxi District Farmers’ Association.”

Besides the “former site of Yuli Credit Union,” Watanabe also noticed the red-brick truss structure building to its north. “The almost exaggerated buttresses look very powerful. I took a quick look inside—it was mostly empty, with a ‘Visitor Center’ sign.” The building Watanabe saw appears to be the Visitor Center of Yuli Town’s Leisure Agriculture and Fisheries Park. Additionally, he sketched a Japanese-style residence he spotted on Bo’ai Road, featuring “asymmetrical kabuki boards” and “completely black rain-shedding boards.” Visitors passing through the area might want to keep an eye out for it too!

(Watanabe’s hand-drawn sketch. Photo credit: Yoshitaka Watanabe)

Want to know where else Watanabe went during these three days? Quickly “Follow Yoshitaka Watanabe on His Tour of Hualien’s Japanese-Style Architecture”!

This article is republished with permission from “

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