The Matsumura Building in Mokpo

Key details:

• This building is registered as a national cultural heritage: 등록문화재 제718-9호. dh.aks.ac.kr

• Located at: Jeollanam-do, Mokpo-si, Daeui-dong 1-ga 3-7. dh.aks.ac.kr

• Originally built around the 1930s (registered as 1935, though likely earlier). dh.aks.ac.kr

• The first owner was a Japanese merchant named 松村正助 (Matsumura Shōsuke), who was an executive at Mokpo Electric Co., Ltd., Joseon Refractories Co., Ltd., and Mokpo Financial Association; also publisher of the magazine “Kkaldagu (깔다구)”. dh.aks.ac.kr

• Architectural style: a Japanese-era mixed-use building (“machiya” style) with retail on the first floor and residential on the second. It has a polygonal shape adapted to the intersection, and features such as arched windows on the corner facade. dh.aks.ac.kr

• Significance: It is an excellent example of commercial residential architecture from the Japanese colonial period in Mokpo, showing both commercial function and the urban fabric of the time.