Kyoto Modern Architecture Festival
The Kyoto Modern Architecture Festival is an annual event that opens modern buildings across the city to the public. The 2025 edition takes place from November 1 to 9. It offers a rare opportunity to explore Kyoto’s 20th-century architecture — from residences and schools to banks and churches — and to appreciate the beauty of modern design within the city’s historic landscape.
Here are some photos I took during previous editions of the festival.
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Terae Family’s Former House and Dye Factory(1935)
At first glance, it looks Western from the outside, but inside lies a traditional Japanese residence — a machiya built in the omoteya-zukuri style.
This architectural style blends a Western-style façade with a Japanese living space at the back, reflecting Kyoto’s harmony of tradition and modernity in the early 20th century.
❺Kyoto City Museum (1933)
❻Kyoto Prefectural Library(1933)
❼Kyoto City Budo Center(1899)
❽Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art(1986)
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