I wrote recently about rebuilding the "Hexagonal Hall" at Izura on the coast of Kita-Ibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture, swept away in the earthquake—it is finally complete. Photo above: a shot from the completion ceremony on the 17th (provided by The Mainichi Newspapers Mito bureau).
According to The Mainichi Newspapers Ibaraki edition and others, manager Ibaraki University first conducted an underwater survey to recover debris. Part of the roof jewel (hoju) and tiles were found, but the main structure including pillars was not, so restoring the pre-disaster form was abandoned in favor of reviving the original appearance (in fact, major renovation in 1963 had changed it considerably). With almost no original drawings, reconstruction proceeded from old photos and local testimony.
The completed hall is a single-story wooden structure about 4.8 m high, floor area about 10 sq. m. Care shows everywhere. Tiles widened to 9 sun in later years were restored to 8 sun with special order from an Aichi tile maker firing since the Edo period. Window glass—records suggest Tenshin sent it from Boston—was imported from Britain using period methods. Red "bengara" exterior paint came as a donation of natural material preserved since Edo times by an Okayama firm. The interior, tatami before the disaster, returned to wooden flooring with a central hearth reproduced.
The hall stands within Ibaraki University's Izura Art Museum research institute, open to the public from the 28th with illumination after sunset. Admission ¥200 (free for junior high and below); adults free through May.
The Mainichi Newspapers, headquartered at Palaceside Building, publishes regional news on its Mainichi.jp site. Click "Regions" in the top menu for all 47 prefectures; each page offers recent news and an "Archive" of the past three months (photo below: from the Ibaraki page).
