Jinpūkaku 2.13

Jinpūkaku is a Western-style French Renaissance style residence of the Ikeda clan located in Tottori, Tottori Prefecture, Japan.HistoryJinpūkaku was commissioned in 1906 by the 14th lord of the Ikeda clan, Nakahiro Ikeda (1877 - 1948). The residence was designed by the Meiji period architect Katayama Tōkuma (1854 - 1917), and covers 1046m2 on a site of 7200m2, and was completed in 1907. Jinpūkaku resembles Tōkuma's Nara National Museum (1894) and Akasaka Palace (1909), and cost 43,335 yen to build. Jinpūkaku was built in close proximity to the ruins of Tottori Castle, which was long controlled by the Ikeda clan, and Kōzen-ji, the temple of the Ikeda family.Association with Emperor TaishōIkeda ostensibly commissioned Jinpūkaku as a detached residence for the family, but it was likely constructed to house Crown Prince Yoshihito, later Emperor Taishō on his tour of the San'in Region in 1907, the same year construction on the residence was completed. Ikeda was closely associated with Tōgō Heihachirō (1848 - 1934), Fleet Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, who accompanied the Emperor Taishō on the tour and gave the residence its name. A nameplate with Tōgō's inscription is prominently displayed in the second floor hall of the structure. Jinpūkaku was the first residence in Tottori to be electrified, and as such was a symbol of the progress of the Meiji period to local residents.