![Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company Head Office 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Meiji_Yasuda_Life_Insurance_Company_Head_Office_2012.JPG)
''Meiji Seimei Kan'' (明治生命館) is a building in
Marunouchi
Marunouchi () is a commercial district of Tokyo located in Chiyoda between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace. The name, meaning "inside the circle", derives from its location within the palace's outer moat. It is also Tokyo's financial di ...
,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
History
It was designed by
Shinichiro Okada and completed in March 1934. The building was one of the first of its kind to be completely designed by Japanese architects, executed by craftsmen and material coming from Japan, as opposed to earlier western-style buildings. This was accomplished just over 60 years after the end of the feudal
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
and the opening of the country.
During the
Shōwa period
Shōwa may refer to:
* Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa
* Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu
Japanese eras
* Jōwa (Heian ...
, its metal fittings were requisitioned by the government of Japan. It survived the bombing of Tokyo during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but was taken over by the General Headquarters /
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers
was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) to the Japanese government, aiming to suppress its "milit ...
(GHQ/SCAP) after the war. It was returned to the government of Japan in 1956. In 1997, this building was designated a
National Important Cultural Property. It was the first building erected in the Showa period to receive this honour.
[明治生命館 ご案内 (Guide to Meiji Seimei Kan). 2013-01-13.]
New foreign ambassadors are taken by horse and carriage from
Tokyo Station
Tokyo Station ( ja, 東京駅, ) is a railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is ...
to
Tokyo Imperial Palace
The is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the where the Emperor has his living quarters, the where va ...
to present their
letters of credence
A letter of credence (french: Lettre de créance) is a formal diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to anot ...
to the
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...
. When Tokyo Station was being renovated, the starting point of this journey was changed to Meiji Seimei Kan.
Architecture
The whole style of the building is in the
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
. The facade outside features monumental
Corinthian pillar
The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...
s that run five stories high to the
pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedimen ...
, which is actually the fifth floor. The material used is concrete encased steel beam structure with a height of 31 m and an area of 3,856 m
2. It sits on a property of 11,347 m
2. It has 8 floors above ground and 2 below. The first and second floor, which contain conference rooms, dining rooms, offices, and waiting rooms, are open to the public for touring.
See also
*
Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo
The is an art museum in Tokyo's Marunouchi district.
History
The building is a faithful recreation of the original Mitsubishi Ichigokan which stood on the same location. Originally completed in 1894 and designed by British architect Josiah Co ...
References
External links
{{Coord, 35, 40, 44.27, N, 139, 45, 41.29, E, display=title
Buildings and structures in Chiyoda, Tokyo
Important Cultural Properties of Japan
Architecture in Japan
Meiji Yasuda Life
Commercial buildings completed in 1934
1934 establishments in Japan
Marunouchi