Former Kaichi School 150th: Tateishi Family Architectural Drawings

The seven Kaichi plans make the school’s layout a subject to study, rather than simply a backdrop to a visit. Look at how rooms and circulation were planned, then relate the drawings to the building around you. Tateishi combined Japanese and Western forms at a time when local carpenters were adapting traditional woodworking skills to unfamiliar architectural designs. Drawings for Seba School, completed in 1877, and Matsumoto Court, completed in 1878, broaden that comparison beyond Kaichi. The exhibition also presents newly discovered drawings on wooden boards for the first time, including an entrance elevation. These were working drawings used at construction sites. Comparing paper plans with the boards shifts attention from the finished facade to the decisions and drawing methods behind construction.

Reservation

Not confirmed

Tickets / booking

General admission is ¥700 for a paper ticket or ¥600 for the digital ticket listed by Matsumoto’s official tourism site. Elementary and junior-high pupils pay ¥300, and preschool children enter free. For groups of 20 or more, the exhibition notice lists ¥540 general admission and ¥270 for elementary and junior-high pupils. Matsumoto residents aged 70 or over and holders of disability certificates can receive free admission after confirmation at the ticket counter. Ordinary exhibition entry does not require the telephone bookings used for selected anniversary activities; use the museum homepage’s ticket link for digital purchases.

Price note

General paper ticket ¥700; general digital ticket ¥600. Elementary/junior-high pupils ¥300; preschool children free. Group and specified eligibility concessions apply. Related programmes have separate participation conditions.

Access

The exhibition is in the first-floor special exhibition room and other areas of the Former Kaichi School, at 2-4-12 Kaichi, Matsumoto. From Matsumoto Station’s Castle Exit, take the Town Sneaker North Course to the Former Kaichi School stop: about 13 minutes on the bus followed by a one-minute walk. Walking from the station takes about 25 minutes. Visitors remove their shoes and change into slippers; the upper floor is accessible only by stairs. Contact the school on 0263-32-5725 before travelling if stairs or changing footwear may affect your visit.

Rain

The exhibition can be viewed indoors, but the approach and grounds are outdoors. Path works are scheduled through early October: indoor visits remain possible, while some grounds are inaccessible and parts of the exterior may be harder to see. The garden entrance and exit change during the works, so follow the museum’s current access notice. This is not a closure of the whole school.

Crowds

The anniversary programme is separate from ordinary viewing. On 17 October, guided tower and attic visits start at 10:00, 11:00, 13:00 and 14:00, with eight places per session, allocated in application order. A lecture on the building and Tateishi’s work takes place in the second-floor hall on 31 October, 13:30–15:00, for up to 30 people. Both are free apart from school admission, and telephone bookings open on 6 October at 09:00. A free architect-led walk on 14 November, 09:30–12:00, starts at the school and finishes at the Mimatsuya storehouse rooms at the Matsumoto Scale Museum in Nakamachi. It takes ten participants; telephone bookings open on 26 October at 09:00. On 1 November, eight Meiji-era classroom sessions run between 10:00 and 15:00 in the first-floor fourth exhibition room. Each takes the first 20 visitors, with no advance application and no extra charge beyond admission. Booked activities and walk-up sessions do not promise a place to every exhibition visitor.

Nearby spots

A visit can complement Matsumoto Castle by adding a view of the city’s nineteenth-century educational and architectural history. From 3–23 November, a separate anniversary panel display in the castle’s Honmaru Garden introduces the school’s history and features; castle admission applies. The architectural drawings themselves remain at the school, so the castle display is not a substitute for this exhibition.

Itinerary hint

Choose an open date, allowing time to enter by 16:30. Begin with the seven Kaichi plans, compare the Seba School and court drawings, then look at how the wooden working drawings convey construction information. Relate those choices to the school’s Japanese and Western forms during the rest of your visit. Flash photography and photography of materials inside display cases are not permitted. The museum’s exhibition page confirms the objects, dates and admission; its homepage carries the grounds-work notice, and the anniversary page gives programme booking dates. Confirm any activity booking and your return bus before building the day around them.