A fairytale world in the woods！The Hualien Port Forestry Office through the eyes of a Japanese architect

Text and photos／Cultural Renewal Stories

[Who is Yoshitaka Watanabe?]

Yoshitaka Watanabe is a Japanese architect who loves Taiwan’s Japanese-style architecture most. He gained widespread attention for creating a “map of Japanese-style buildings in 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 structures in Hualien and recorded numerous exquisite hand-drawn notes. Come with us and see how beautiful Taiwan’s Japanese-style buildings look through the eyes of a Japanese architect！

Located next to the “former Hualien Port Higher Girls’ School Dormitory,” the “Hualien Port Forestry Office” was built in 1919. Initially used by the “Hualien Port Lumber Co., Ltd.” in 1919, it later became the office of the “Colonization Bureau Forestry Division Eastern Branch” in 1929, and was renamed the “Hualien Port Forestry Office” in 1942. At that time, its main work was to undertake afforestation projects commissioned by the Hualien and Taitung Prefectures.

▲ (Exterior of the Hualien Port Forestry Office. Image source: Hualien County Cultural Affairs Bureau)

Watanabe described the building as “a beloved gray pseudo-Western single-story house with a hip-and-gable roof, resembling an illustration from a fairytale in the woods.” (Editor’s note: A “hip-and-gable roof” is a roofing style with four sloping sides. “Pseudo-Western architecture” refers to a type of architecture that emerged in Japan since the Meiji period, imitating Western styles while still retaining some traditional Japanese architectural features.)

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

He observed: “The dentils are meticulously arranged on the arched pediment. The engaged columns enhance the frontal impression. The ventilation openings inside the eaves (extended beyond the outer wall) also add rhythm to the flat wooden boards (wooden siding). The shimmering light through the slanted glass of the vertically long windows also speaks to the cultural value of the structure.”

▲ (You can see Watanabe capturing details such as the “arched pediment and dentils,” “engaged columns,” “neatly arranged vents under the eaves,” and the “stone-dashed exterior walls.” Image source: Hualien County Cultural Affairs Bureau)

In addition, Watanabe specially noted: “Going around to the back of the building, you can find a veranda space in the South Seas style.”

▲ (The South Seas-style veranda at the back of the Hualien Port Forestry Office. Image source: Hualien County Cultural Affairs Bureau)

This building is an important representative of forestry industry architecture during the Japanese colonial period. After World War II, it was taken over by the Hualien County Government and renamed the “Hualien Forestry Management Office.” It operated until it was shut down in 1960, after which it became vacant. In 2001, following a call by civic groups and with the approval of the Forestry Bureau, it was opened as a cultural and artistic space, renamed “Jinghua Linyuan.” It is now managed again by the Forestry Bureau.

▲ (Engaged columns and arched pediment, all finished in stone-dashed stucco. Image and text source: Yoshitaka Watanabe)

Want to know where else Watanabe went during these three days? Hurry up and “Follow Yoshitaka Watanabe to Explore Hualien’s Japanese-Style Architecture”!
 

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