Dongcun Dormitory Introduction
The "Nanzhuang East Village Dormitory" was established in 1935 and rebuilt in 1940. The full original name was "Nanzhuang Brain Collection Office," which in Japanese means an office for the distribution and management of brain materials. The original planned layout included a "storage warehouse," a "director's office," and "inspector dormitories." In 2007, in response to local calls for preservation, the Miaoli County Government assessed that this dormitory is an affiliated building of the forestry industry, making it a significant case in Taiwan's industrial historical architecture, and it is one of the important Japanese colonial period buildings in Miaoli County. It is well-preserved, surrounded by a beautiful landscape, and has high preservation and reuse value, thus it was announced as a historical building on June 14 of that year. Currently, this historical building consists of the director's dormitory, inspector's dormitory, bathroom, and toilet. It has one floor and is composed of three interconnected buildings. The architectural features combine office and residential functions, and it is one of the few surviving small public bathhouse buildings used for residential purposes in Taiwan. The building layout consists of an L-shaped office combined with a director's dormitory, a U-shaped inspector's dormitory, and a standalone building for the public bathroom and toilet used by the dormitories. The roof retains traditional Japanese ridge-end and ridge-top designs, constructed with a small roof structure. The exterior walls are made of rain-penetrating panels without ribs, and the foundation consists of brick bases and elevated flooring, demonstrating significant cultural asset preservation value. This site preserves the local historical memory and expands the tourism route in Nanzhuang. In 2018, the restoration and reuse of this historical building were actively pursued; it continues to operate under a "cultural tourism" model, connecting surrounding tourist attractions on Nanzhuang Old Street and the diverse cycling routes of Shitou Mountain, enriching the entire cultural tourism characteristics of Nanzhuang and allowing the historical significance of the building to be conveyed and continued through visitors' attendance.
