This red-brick, Japanese-Western fusion building was a bank during the Meiji Period. The dark-colored bricks were produced locally in Ozu and were considered so precious that each one was wrapped individually when transported. But no matter how precious they were, someone still managed to play a little trick and get their handprint laid on a wet brick. If you go to the bathroom past the courtyard, you can see a brick with child-sized handprints on it.

What kind of story do these adorable little markings inspire for you? Did a child sneak into a bricklayer’s workshop?