Giyōfū architecture

Giyōfū style buildings were built by Japanese carpenters using traditional construction techniques, but with a layout and external ornamentation based on observation of Western-style buildings in person or in photographs, or based on design books such as the Shinsen Hinagata Taisho Daisen, which offered molding designs which could be reproduced.

Many of these buildings were symmetric and made use of porticoes or verandahs with columns, classical pediments, sash windows, and ornamental gables.

[1] Giyōfū style buildings often contained Dutch, British, French, and/or Italian architectural elements, combined with a Japanese-style roof.

The clearest evidence for this is in the karahafu and mukuri roofs, as well as common use of shoji-style windows sometimes attached to these Western-influenced structures.

[1] In the nineteenth century, Giyōfū was gradually fading out as the lines between Japanese and western-style became blurry.