The Beauty of Japanese Architecture in Hualien: The Forestry Bureau Dormitory Complex Laden with Historical Records

Text and photos by /Cultural Renewal Stories

[Who is Yoshitaka Watanabe?]
Yoshitaka Watanabe is a Japanese architect who loves Taiwanese Japanese-style architecture. He gained widespread attention for creating a “Japanese Architecture Map of Taiwan” using Google Maps.From October 3 to 5 this year (2016), he was invited by the Hualien Tourism Marketing Division to visit many Japanese-style buildings in Hualien and documented them with exquisite hand-drawn notes.Come take a look with us at how beautiful Taiwanese Japanese-style architecture appears through the eyes of a Japanese architect!

‘The buildings on Linzheng Street 0? — the main structures are constructed from a combination of brick and mortar and feature symmetrical gable-and-hip roof facades that extend left and right as single-story buildings; at the ends, there are small rooms connected with slightly differing ridgelines. Could this... perhaps be an example of a “twin-row longhouse centered along the central bargeboard line”? If so, it would be a (very) precious (case). It seems that several (of the buildings) have already begun restoration work. These kinds of buildings are lined up side-by-side, forming the streetscape.’ Watanabe finds the Japanese dormitory complex on Linzheng Street particularly special.

(Japanese residences on Linzheng Street, Hualien City. Photo credit: Yoshitaka Watanabe)

He speculates, ‘The building shown in the photo seems to be just that, with slightly different ridgelines on the left and right extensions — doesn’t this precisely show that the extension periods (differed) due to different owners on either side?’ He specifically noted in his drawing the material used for the central facade as “mortar,” the “two entrances” on either side of the central facade, the “rain screen” on the right side, and speculated, “Could this have been a longhouse that was originally divided into two households along the central facade?” Because the “ridge and eaves board on the left side are on a different plane from the central part,” while the right side differs: “the eaves board is on the same plane as the central part, but (it can be seen as) an extended section.”

(Hand-drawn notes by Yoshitaka Watanabe. Photo credit: Yoshitaka Watanabe)

‘Additionally, unlike these (buildings), “No. 1, Lane 1, Alley 8” is a large hip-roof building with a different layout, entirely covered with British-style rain screens; suggesting the residents may have been of a different social class. Just studying this area alone would certainly yield a lot of knowledge. Taking a short walk around other (areas), you can also spot many eye-catching details.’ Watanabe sketched details such as “the curved brackets under this type of eave are carefully crafted,” “the combination of glass windows and shutters,” and under the “main house with a large roof that has partially collapsed,” he noted, “This must be a truss structure, no doubt about it!”

(Hand-drawn notes by Yoshitaka Watanabe. Photo credit: Yoshitaka Watanabe)

Watanabe said that twin-row (two-household) longhouses, because different families were free to renovate them, often end up as seen in the photo — with asymmetrical extensions on both sides. He believes this is also a very important historical record.

Want to know where else Watanabe went during these three days? Hurry and “Follow Yoshitaka Watanabe on His Exploration of Hualien’s Japanese Architecture” !

This article is republished with permission from “Cultural Renewal Stories”