Japan’s Mojiko Station to Go Back to 1914 Design

July 26, 2018

Fukuoka- Kyushu Railway Co. said Wednesday that it will bring back the original 1914 exterior design to its Mojiko Station building in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan.

The railway operator, known as JR Kyushu, plans to spend 2.2 billion yen on the renovation, set to complete in March next year, in a move designed to attract more tourists.

The company will employ mortar on the outer walls of the building to resemble stone-pitched walls. It will use slates for the roof.

JR Kyushu will also restore decorations around the roof that were lost over the years.

In 1988, Mojiko Station became the first railway station to be designated an important cultural property of the country.

The station had long served as the railroad gateway to the Kyushu southwestern region, before the opening in the early 1940s of the Kanmon Tunnel that connects another station in Kitakyushu and Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, across a strait. Jiji Press