Built in 1913 as the Beitou Public Baths, this handsome building is a copy of the bathhouses in Shizuokaken Idouyama in Japan. It is also a good example of the turn-of-the century fascination among Japanese architects for blending Eastern and Western architecture and esthetics.
The exterior, with its high roof and chimney, was built to resemble a British countryside villa. Upstairs, wooden verandahs surround a tatami room where bathers once took tea and relaxed.
