The Ironai Banking District

The Ironai district in Otaru became the city's financial center after a fire destroyed the original commercial area in 1881, and ten of the original 25 bank buildings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries still stand. These buildings were deliberately designed in European classical styles to project wealth and stability: the Bank of Japan's Otaru branch from 1912 draws on Renaissance Revival architecture with Baroque elements, while the Mitsui Bank branch from 1927 uses Italian Renaissance Revival. When Otaru lost its coal shipping trade as Japan shifted from coal to oil at mid-century, banks withdrew from the city, leaving the buildings vacant until they were restored as museums and cultural facilities.