異人館(いじんかん)

いじんかん
noun
Western-style residence built for foreign residents
buildinghistory
1. Western-style house from the foreign settlements; ijinkan
A Western-style residence built in the Meiji and Taisho periods for foreign merchants and diplomats living in Japan's treaty ports. Surviving ones in Kobe, Nagasaki, and Yokohama are preserved as tourist attractions.
神戸(こうべ)の異人館(いじんかん)を見(み)に行(い)った。
I went to see the ijinkan in Kobe.
この異人館(いじんかん)は明治時代(めいじじだい)に建(た)てられた。
This ijinkan was built in the Meiji period.
坂(さか)の上(うえ)に並(なら)ぶ異人館(いじんかん)からは、港(みなと)全体(ぜんたい)が見渡(みわた)せる。
From the ijinkan lined up at the top of the slope, you can look out over the whole harbor.

Literally "foreigner's building," from 異人(いじん) — an older word for a foreigner — plus 館(かん) (hall, mansion). The word is tied to the treaty-port era and is not used for modern housing.

Common collocations

  • 異人館(いじんかん)街(がい): an ijinkan district
  • 神戸(こうべ)北野(きたの)の異人館(いじんかん): the ijinkan of Kitano in Kobe
  • 異人館(いじんかん)巡(めぐ)り: touring the ijinkan

Similar words

Related Words

Compare: 洋館(ようかん) (Western-style house)
general
Added 2026.8.22 21:17 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
30500/30716_ijinkan