Photo/Illutration The main office of the Bank of the Ryukyus, built in Naha under postwar U.S. military rule, is scheduled for closure due to its age. (Mika Kuniyoshi)

NAHA--Normally the visitors lined up at the Bank of the Ryukyus’ main office are eager to deal with their accounts, not hear an account of the bank.

But on one day in November, it was filled with visitors seeking a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the building’s history. Built after World War II when Okinawa was still under U.S. military rule, the structure will be dismantled in January due to its age.

“I usually come to the main office, but I was surprised to find remnants of U.S. military rule that I had not known about,” said Mio Tobaru, 40, who was examining a design drawing in English. “I learned about Okinawa’s history from this building.

Tobaru was part of an exclusive tour where only 50 people who applied in advance were allowed to view parts of the bank’s main office that are usually closed off to the public. The number of visitors allowed in was limited as a preventative measure against the novel coronavirus.

The Bank of the Ryukyus was founded in May 1948 with the U.S. military putting up half of its capital.

The bank was initially housed in a refurbished building that had suffered damage from fires caused by the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. The current building was erected in May 1966 at a cost of about $1.2 million (125 million yen). It opened with three stories above ground and one below, and then two more floors were added in 1969.

Bank representatives on Nov. 14 showed the visitors around a U.S.-made power distribution equipment that has been in use for more than half a century, a U.S.-designed underground vault that had been used until this past summer, and an office room characterized by its semicircular windows and ceiling.

The power distribution equipment was designed for the U.S. standard of 277 volts, so the voltage has been lowered to 100 volts for use in Japan, according to the bank.

Haruno Kinjo, 34, an assistant professor of architecture at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of the Ryukyus, served as a guide.

He said an Okinawan contractor built the main office after it was designed by an American architect’s office at the request of the bank’s top shareholder, the U.S. military.

“I imagine that people of that time were determined to keeping up with the advanced building technology of the U.S. military,” said Kinjo.

Kinjo suggested that the building’s open style, which features few pillars, was chosen to make a statement.

“The designers may have tried to present Okinawa as the show window of democracy by creating an impressive, massive space,” Kinjo said.

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