The Moji Sales Office of Holme, Ringer & Co. was established in this building in the port town of Moji around 1962. The year of its construction (completion) is unknown, but a 1954 edition of the Moji City's “Municipal Directory” lists a building with an almost identical appearance as the "British Consulate". The Holme Ringer Trading Company was founded in 1868 by English trader Frederick Ringer and fellow Englishman Edward Z. Holme. The trading company, which helped in the development of Nagasaki, was closed during the war, and Holme Ringer Trading Company was reopened in Moji by former Japanese employees. Prior to founding the company, Frederick Ringer was a tea appraiser for the British Fletcher & Co. and worked in China. In 1865, he was scouted by Glover & Co. and worked as an inspector for the tea trade in Nagasaki. When he had first founded the Holme Ringer Trading Company, they had dealt in tea, but the business expanded along with Japan’s rapid growth in the transportation, coal, and munitions industries during the first industrial revolution. Between the Meiji period (1868–1912) and the early Showa era (1926–1989), the company conducted a wide range of businesses that included milling, oil reserves, and electrical energy. That work was also varied, including involvement in trade with various overseas ports such as Vladivostok and engaging in proxy services for trading companies from different countries. In 1907, Frederick Ringer died while on a visit home to Norwich, England. The company was later taken over by his son, Sidney who returned to Nagasaki in 1909. Sidney was ordered to shut down the Nagasaki head office of Holme, Ringer & Co. in October 1940 by the Japanese government, which was at war, and he was forced to flee to Shanghai. Sidney returned to Japan after the war, but in 1965 sold off all assets in Japan and went home to England where he spent the rest of his life until he died in 1967. What most draws your eye on the building’s facade (front) is the entrance and the semicircular window above it. By Keeping the windows simple on the left and right stresses the building’s symmetry. The overall pale color scheme gives a clean impression, and the English-style banner gives it a playful charm to it.
■ Information
Address： 9-9 Minato-machi, Moji-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture
Tel：
Parking：available
Hours :
Closed :
Fee :
Other/Notifications：Only the exterior can be viewed
URL:
■Category
Category: Constituent cultural properties
Genre: Story 3
Areas:Moji/Kokura area
