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Structure: Two-story steel-frame brick construction
Year of construction: 1903
The Maizuru World Brick Museum was opened in 1993, utilizing the Maizuru Naval Arsenal’s torpedo storage facility, which had been left unused for many years after the war. The facility was originally built in 1903. The museum houses a rich collection of exhibits, including bricks from ancient civilizations around the world and a replica of a Hoffmann kiln. It proudly proclaims itself as “”the world’s only brick-themed museum.””
In addition, it is one of the oldest steel-frame brick buildings still standing in Japan, with the building itself serving as part of the exhibit. The steel used in the construction was imported from the Carnegie Steel Company in the United States, and a distinctive feature is the use of the Flemish bond bricklaying method, in which bricks are alternately stacked with the long side (lengthwise) and the short side (endwise) in the same row.