Today (Oct 26, 2016) is the Opening Day for the annual Tokyo Design Week, held in Meiji Jingu Gaien (not to be confused with Meiji Jingu shrine, which is in Yoyogi Park). Hundreds of designers from university students to celebrated professionals display their work, host discussions and party like only design folks can. Pecha Kucha…
Tag: Architecture
Hayashi Fumiko Memorial Hall
Hayashi Fumiko was a famous author who lived in Tokyo in the mid-20th century. Her and her husband Ryokubin, a painter, built this beautiful house in the Ochiai area in northwest Shinjuku surrounded by a small but lovely traditional Japanese garden. Their house was actually two buildings due to building restrictions around the war time,…
Kyu Asakura House
Uppity Daikanyama is known more to be the home of the modern rich and famous, but 100 years ago, it was also home to Asakura Torajiro, a politician and businessman of Tokyo. The large two-story house sits in the middle of a beautiful Japanese garden, all of which is hidden behind a very modern shopping…
Nakagin Capsule Tower
The Nakagin Capsule Tower is probably what many people envision when they think of modern Tokyo: a sort of space-age but utilitarian building stacked high into the sky. In truth, this building is the one and only of its kind in Tokyo or anywhere else, and unless you consider 1972 the peak of modern Japan,…
House Vision
Architecture poses a unique puzzle for Japan with the perfect storm of scarcity of natural resources, the premium value of land in urban areas, and a dwindling population. This is why many of Japan’s most prominent architects are on the cutting edge of ideas like using recycled materials for building projects, optimizing space in tiny…
Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum
The value of land in Tokyo has created some difficult decisions when it comes to preserving historic buildings. One way Tokyo has dealt with this issue is the construction of the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum in Koganei Park. Historic buildings on valuable plots of land were relocated and rebuilt in this museum, which contains…
National Art Center
One of Tokyo’s modern architectural masterpieces, the National Art Center in Roppongi is best known for its huge front facade resembling a huge glass wave. To most people’s surprise, it is not a museum, but a space for hosting temporary exhibitions of art. Many important exhibitions of historic artists as well as contemporary designers (like Issey…
Eihei-ji
Eihei-ji temple is one of the head temples of the Soto Zen Buddhism sect and the temple grounds contain over 70 buildings housing up to 250 monks. Located in Fukui Prefecture, the area would not receive a lot of tourism if not for Eihei-ji’s tourist friendly policies and information. Tourists can explore much of the…
Hida Takayama
Hidden away in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture, Hida Takayama is probably most famous for its biannual Takayama Matsuri, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from across Japan to see one of the most amazing parades of historic floats in the entire country. The next festival takes place in April 2017, giving you some…
Hotel Okura
The historic lobby and main wing of the Hotel Okura is already gone, in the process of an extended renovation ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. From the time the hotel opened in 1962, it has been an iconic building, hosting U.S. Presidents and heads of states from around the world. The hotel’s Orchid Room…
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