Kawajima Town Hall

Ergonomically and ecologically friendly unobtrusive rural town offices

In comparison to other municipal offices I have visited over the years, Kawajima Town Hall stands out as the most unobtrusive and one of the best designed both in terms of architecture and practicality. The building is quite small as I guess the town is as well. From the outside it is unobtrusive and blends in to the rural landscape. It has rice paddies on two sides, a large park on another and the remaining side has other town facilities such as the town library and principal community hall. The building is beautifully designed inside with large scale use of natural materials and light. It is also ergonomically and ecologically friendly. You get a very comfortable feeling as you walk into the building as it is lofty and bright with wooden floors and counters and very open plan. Thanks to the building being quite small, the administrative counters are all on one floor in one area. They have a small play area in the waiting area. There is a rest room to one side with a small hall beside it. They have vending machines in the rest room with a collection of information leaflets. I did not see any English information brochures on my last visit, yesterday, but I have seen them there before and in Spanish too. They seem to be quite open to people wandering around and / or making themselves comfortable. The building is two storey, but they have a small tower which is the 3rd floor. You can see Mt Fuji on a clear day. The offices are open 8.30 am to 5.15 pm Monday to Saturday. Full service is available Monday to Friday, but I believe some of the administrative desks are closed on Saturday. Plentiful and free parking is shared with the library and community center.