Shiryōkan, History museum in Ōdōri Nishi, Sapporo, Japan
Shiryōkan occupies the former Sapporo Court of Appeals building, completed in August 1926 at the western end of Ōdōri Park. Its outer walls are laid with Sapporo soft stone, while the inner walls are brick and parts of the second floor, beams, stairs and columns are reinforced concrete. Inside are a restored Taishō-era criminal courtroom and six galleries.
The Sapporo Court of Appeals moved from Hakodate in 1921, and its new building was begun in 1922 but scaled down after the Great Kantō earthquake and completed in August 1926. It served as the Sapporo High Court until 1973, when the courts moved to a new complex. Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 1997, it was designated an Important Cultural Property in 2020 as the Former Sapporo Court of Appeals Building with its two gates.
The building's name comes from its 1973 reopening as a city archive after the Sapporo High Court moved out. Inside, a memorial room honours Sapporo-born manga artist Ōba Hiroshi, and six small galleries host displays by local citizens' groups. The restored Taishō-era criminal courtroom is the centrepiece.
The building closes the west end of Ōdōri Park, opposite the TV Tower at the east end, a short walk from Nishi 11-chōme subway station. It has been run by a private designated manager since 1 August 2006. The façade is lit up at night since May 1987.
The exterior looks like solid stone, but the walls are Sapporo soft stone facing with brick inside, and parts of the second floor, beams, stairs and columns are reinforced concrete. It is the largest surviving building in the city made with Sapporo soft stone, a material no longer quarried after the war.
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