Chartered Building, Bank building in Kaigandōri, Japan
The Chartered Building is a historic bank building on Kaigandōri Street in Yokohama, Japan, featuring a stone facade with geometric detailing. It is listed as part of the Heritage of Industrial Modernization and retains its original structure.
The building was put up in 1938 to house offices for international trading firms, at a time when Yokohama was already a central point for commerce between Japan and the rest of the world. It later became a branch of a major Hong Kong bank, reflecting how the port continued to attract global finance.
Kaigandōri Street, where the building stands, has long been associated with foreign trade and banking in Yokohama. Walking along this stretch today, visitors can still read the street as a record of how the city opened itself to the world.
The building is easy to reach from Bashamichi Station and sits along a street with several other historic structures worth seeing. Since it still functions as an office, access inside is limited, but the facade can be seen clearly from the pavement.
The building is part of an urban plan that ties older structures into new commercial development rather than isolating them as monuments. This means the 1938 facade stands next to newer projects, creating an unusual layering of eras on the same street.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
