This building was newly erected in 1906 as the Otaru Branch of the Nihon Yusen Company incorporated in Otaru, Hokkaido. The design, at the time the latest Western-style stone architecture, was done by Shichijiro Satate, a Doctor of Engineering who graduated from the University of Technology.
Soon after it was finished, the conference to determine the national boundaries resulting from peace settlement of the Japanese-Russo War was to be held in Otaru, and the representatives of both countries met here in the secondfloor meeting room and celebrated afterwards in the adjoining special guest room.
The building became the property of the city in 1955 and it served as the Otaru City Museum until 1984 when restoration began and lasted until 1987, at which time the business office, meeting room and special guest room had once again regained their original condition.
*Above text is excerpted from Otaru-city's explanatory material.
