Pierson Museum

Hokkaido’s otherness is highlighted in the presence of historical foreign architecture. In Kitami, on a quiet hill overlooking the city, stands the former home of two American missionaries, the Piersons. Now renovated, it serves as a museum dedicated to internationalization, art, and bridges both old and new between Hokkaido and the world.

In the late 1800s, the maelstrom of modernization churned Japanese society from top to bottom. Land reforms and industry modeled after European nations now in vogue; Japan adopted new systems in tandem with the discovery of its own national identity. Once forcefully outlawed, Christianity and its practice returned from the shadows.

George Pierson, born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1861, came to Japan as a missionary in August of 1888. Beginning in Tokyo, his work slowly drew him north through Iwate and eventually to Hokkaido. He met his wife, Ida Goepp, who was also a missionary, and they traveled across Hokkaido preaching and educating at universities. As close acquaintances of Anglican missionary John Batchelor, who lived among the Ainu, they also grew close to the Ainu people.

The Piersons settled in Kitami, then known as Notsukeushi, building their home. The contrast of their home against the Japanese frontier meant frequent guests and curious visitors to the chalet, designed by renowned architect William Vories, also from America, whose company designed over 1,000 buildings across Japan.

Eventually, the Piersons would retire from mission work in Japan and return to America. The house, which stood surrounded by tall oaks in Kitami City, fell into disrepair. With the advent of World War II, it became the residence of another Japanese missionary.

The Kitami City government took control of the building in 1968, just one year before Kitami became the sister city of Elizabeth, its former owners’ hometown, in 1969. In the following decades, each city has sent delegations to increase international awareness and promote each locale's unique culture. Events such as Japanese cooking classes or brass band concerts have dotted the history of this relationship, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019.

Now a free-admission museum administered by a local nonprofit, it is filled with relics of the Piersons and Hokkaido’s frontier history. Students from local schools frequently visit the site as part of field trips, and events on local history are held on its main floor.

The second floor is home to a separate room detailing the architectural works and life of Vories. The Pierson Museum is his northernmost work—elsewhere in the prefecture, foreign architecture is abundant.

The Hokkaido Development Commission relied heavily on foreign experts to help quickly modernize the frontier. The former government headquarters in Sapporo is famed for its new-baroque red brick and is a local tourist hotspot. Elsewhere, cities such as Otaru and Kushiro, once large commercial ports, are still plentiful with the stone architecture of that period. Further south, Hakodate’s famed port area is abundant in foreign diplomatic missions and churches.

As one of Japan’s first colonies, Hokkaido’s cultural and architectural histories differ from those of southern prefectures. Even today, Hokkaido’s open horizon, towering mountains, and culinary palette invoke a different . Although short in history relative to the rest of Japan, Hokkaido is perfect for off-the-beaten-path travel. With each region offering its own unique story, cuisine, and grand nature, you’ll never run out of adventure.