洋 館(ようかん)

ようかん

noun

Western-style house (esp. a prewar one)

1. Western-style house; Western-style building

A house built in European or American style, typically one put up between the Meiji era and the early Showa era. The word carries a strong period flavor: a modern Western-style home is a 洋風(ようふう)の家(いえ), not a 洋館(ようかん).

丘(おか)の上(うえ)に古(ふる)い洋館(ようかん)がある。

There is an old Western-style house on the hill.

明治時代(めいじじだい)の洋館(ようかん)が今(いま)も住宅(じゅうたく)として使(つか)われている。

A Western-style house from the Meiji era is still in use today.

横浜(よこはま)の山手(やまて)には当時(とうじ)の洋館(ようかん)が何(なん)軒(げん)も保存(ほぞん)されていて、中(なか)を見学(けんがく)できる。

Several period Western-style houses are preserved in the Yamate district of Yokohama, and you can tour the interiors.

洋(よう) (Western) + 館(かん) (building). Contrast 和館(わかん), the Japanese-style wing that often stood beside it on the same estate.

Common collocations

古(ふる)い洋館(ようかん): an old Western-style house
明治(めいじ)の洋館(ようかん): a Meiji-era Western-style house
洋館(ようかん)風(ふう)のカフェ: a cafe done up like a period Western house

Similar words

洋風(ようふう)の家(いえ): a Western-style home — the neutral term for any modern house in Western style
屋敷(やしき): a mansion, an estate — large and imposing, but not necessarily Western

Cultural note

Preserved 洋館(ようかん) in Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki are tourist attractions, and the word is a stock ingredient of mystery and ghost stories, where the isolated old 洋館(ようかん) is the standard setting.

Related Words

Compare: 屋敷(やしき) (a mansion, an estate)

Compare: 異人館(いじんかん) (Western-style residence built for foreign residents)

general

Added 2026.8.25 21:29 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02

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