The Old Hokkaido Government Building (known affectionately to local Sapporo citizens as akarenga or "Red Bricks") was first completed in 1888 and modeled on the Massachusetts State House in the USA.

The Old Hokkaido Government Building is a symbol of the city of Sapporo and was built by local architects with local materials as the administrative base for the administration of the development and colonization of Hokkaido.

The Old Hokkaido Government Building contains a number of interesting display rooms including an introduction to the ongoing diplomatic problem of the return of the Northern Territories (the four South Kuril Islands known in Japanese as Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai-shoto) off the northern coast of Hokkaido, seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II and the history of Japanese settlement on Sakhalin.

Sakhalin (known as Karafuto in Japanese at the time) became part of the Japanese empire below the 50th parallel after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 and remained under Japanese control until 1945, when the area was overrun by invading Soviet forces.

 

SOURCE: http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-city-guides/akarenga#ixzz3eVxrnC36