Old Tainan Magistrate Residence
Locals call it the Clock Building, though no one seems entirely sure why. The Old Tainan Magistrate Residence has answered to so many names and purposes over its 125-year life that one more nickname hardly matters. Built in 1900 as the home of Tainan Prefecture Governor Imai Konichi, this two-story English colonial-style building with its brick arcades and wraparound veranda has been a governor's residence, a military officers' quarters, a salt office, a civil defense headquarters, a concert hall, a cafe, and a cultural center. Each reinvention stripped away or added a layer, yet the bones of the original building have persisted through two empires, a world war, and the restless commercial energy of modern Tainan.
A House for Every Government
The residence was built during the early years of Japanese rule over Taiwan. In 1901, when the administrative system reorganized, the building's original occupant moved to a nearby residence and the structure passed to Tainan Hall for management. The Imperial Japanese Army borrowed part of it as a brigade magistrate residence. When members of the Japanese royal family visited Tainan, it was elevated to the status of Governor's Residence. By 1920, another administrative reshuffling returned it to service as the Tainan Prefecture Magistrate Residence. In 1936, as the Second Sino-Japanese War loomed, workers dug an underground air raid shelter at the building's southeast corner. The building survived the bombing that devastated much of Tainan.
Decades of Neglect
After Japan's surrender in 1945 and Taiwan's handover to the Republic of China, the building entered a long period of institutional drift. It was partially rebuilt and used by the Taiwan Salt General Office and a local Land Office. By the 1980s, it had become the headquarters for the Civil Defense and District Office. The building's architectural distinction, its English colonial arcades, its brick detailing, its sense of scale - was buried under layers of bureaucratic indifference. In 1998, recognition finally came when it was declared a historical building. The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Tainan City Government launched a restoration project that would stretch across a full decade.
Reinvention After Reinvention
Since the restoration's completion, the building has cycled through identities with remarkable speed. In 2011, the Taiwan Artists Ensemble Culture Foundation reopened it as the Magistrate Residence Concert Hall, pairing musical performances with a restaurant and cafe. In 2015, a new operator renamed it simply the Magistrate Residence and opened the 1900 Cafe, a Knowledge Salon, and exhibition spaces. In 2020, yet another management company transformed it into the Magistrate Residence Living Center, hosting exhibitions, lectures, afternoon tea, and meals. Through it all, the two-story brick building with its shaded arcades remains. The architecture does what architecture does best: it outlasts the intentions of every person who has used it.
From the Air
The Old Tainan Magistrate Residence is located at 22.9926N, 120.2134E in the East District of Tainan, Taiwan. The two-story colonial-style building with distinctive brick arcades can be spotted in the urban landscape near the Tainan railway station area. Tainan Airport (RCNN) is approximately 5nm to the south. The building's English colonial architectural style distinguishes it from surrounding modern structures when viewed at lower altitudes.