Mikkaichi-cho, Kawachinagano City, Osaka Prefecture Former Mikkaichi Police Box (Kyu Mikkaichishi Koban) "Kawachinagano City Designated Cultural Property" The only wooden former police box in Osaka. Open days (Sat, Sun, holidays) Free admission P) Parking is in front of Mikkaichi Station. There are many buildings along the Koya Kaido worthy of being cultural properties, and the former police box building is a cultural property too. Through repeated renovations it has kept its original appearance well, conveying to this day the form of a wooden police box/residential police post, which has become rare in recent years…. (from the information board) Thanks to the kind volunteer guide staff, I could feel the enthusiasm of the local people, who carefully protect the former police box as a cultural property among the many buildings.

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Said to be the oldest wooden police box in Japan. Completed in 1921, it was used until 2007, when operations moved to a newly built police box due to the redevelopment of the nearest station, Mikkaichi Station. Registered as a city-designated cultural property, it's now used as a tourist information center. The building was renovated without altering its original form. Instead of the vertical board exterior that was common on the mainstream structures of the time, it uses horizontal board siding. You can see how Western-style culture was starting to take hold in the Taisho era. Inside, what was once a combined residence and police box has had the kitchen and bath removed and converted into a toilet. You can also go up to the 2nd floor. There's only one room, cramped with a low ceiling, so oppressive that it makes you worry whether the officer posted here could really live with their family. The gohei that had been put up for the renovation work has been brought down from the attic and placed in the room. Perhaps because it's a public building with no private owner, only the designer's name is on it. From the window you can look down on the Koya Kaido, which used to be the main road, and the impressive residences around it. According to the person who guided us, until the national highway was built there were many shops and the area thrived. But now, with the aging population, vacant houses are increasing and they said it's gotten lonely. There's also a small exhibition inside, which apparently changes 4 times a year. No parking. There's paid parking near Mikkaichi Station. You can park motorcycles or bicycles.

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The former police box is used as a tourist information spot. Nearby, a few old houses are dotted along the Higashi Koya Kaido. Watch out for heatstroke under the blazing midsummer sun!

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As I strolled along the Koya Kaido from Kawachinagano to Mikkaichi, I felt like I'd suddenly arrived in a lone Taisho village, a kind of déjà vu.

It keeps its old look just as it was, but maybe the paint is too bright; if they could bring out a deeper shade, I'd give it a 5