The Nippon Club of New York City is a private social club on 57th Street in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, founded in 1905 by Jōkichi Takamine for Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals. The only Japanese traditional gentlemen's club in the United States, the Nippon Club's dual purpose is to help enhance the unity of the Japanese community in New York City and to help develop evolving relationships with the American people. Over the course of its first century, the Nippon Club has fostered ongoing business and cultural relationships through various events, workshops, cultural classes and athletic events. By holding various athletic events and cultural activities, as well as by providing the facilities where these events can occur, The Nippon Club has cemented itself as one of New York City’s oldest cultural institutions. Membership has grown to about 3,000 members, including 800 women who are members of the allied Fujin-Bu Club; several hundred of these members are Americans.Lyons, Richard. (1989)
"Growing Space: Tower for Nippon Club,"
''New York Times.'' August 27, 1989.

History

The Nippon Club initially occupied a townhouse at 334 Riverside Drive, located between West 105th and 106th Streets on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

of Manhattan. The best early detailed description of the Nippon Club, its structure and membership appeared in January 1908 when the Club was located at 44 West 85th Street in New York City's

. In the book "Japan in New York" we are given: Large photos of the front of the Club, the Drawing Room and the Japan Room. The basic listing for the club states (p. 20): "The Nippon Club was organized in March, 1905, by the leading Japanese residents of the city and is now presided over by Dr. J. Takamine, which Mr. Rinichi Uchida is looking after the club management." Pages 24–38 are entirely about The Nippon Club. "Organized March 15th, 1905. 44 W. 85th St., New York City. Officers for 1907–1908. Jokichi Takamine, president. Kikusaburo Fukui, Treasurer. Trustees (21 men). Standing committees for 1907–1908: Admission Committee(6). House Committee (7), Library Committee (5). Committee on Game (5 men). Constitution of The Nippon Club (15 articles, incl. No. 2. "The object of the Club shall be to promote the social enjoyment of its members and to provide them with mental and physical recreation." No. 11. "The members of the Japanese associations in New York, respectively known as the Hinode Club and the Kyodo-Kwai, shall be entitled to membership in this Club without the formality of election and without admission fees, if they desire to join it"). Signed in the City of New York on March 15, 1905. Names of the 19 signers (incl. Jokichi Takamine) and their affiliations are given. By-Laws of the Nippon Club (14 articles, incl. Membership, Admission to membership). Honorary members (13 men, mostly Japanese living in Japan or other countries, also General Stewart L. Woodford, New York). Resident members (186 total, most having Japanese surnames, with the business address of each; R.V. Briesen and Chas. Loechner do not have Japanese surnames. "Takamine, Jokichi, 45 Hamilton Terrace" is listed among the resident members. Addresses outside of New York City include

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

;

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

;

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

; and

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. On May 10, 1910 a prominent visiting Japanese statesmen Prince Tokugawa Iesato (aka Prince Iyesato Tokugawa) was honored with a farewell banquet at the Nippon Club – A dozen of his countrymen gave him a dinner party at the Nippon Club, prior to him sailing on the following morning back to Japan. The 1910 newspaper illustration to the right gives further details of his goodwill visit. The prince declared that he had enjoyed his visit immensely. His American friends were mighty kind to him, he said, and he added that the stay was pleasure only; no business significance at all. Prince Tokagawa took a ride through Central park this morning, had lunch with

Melville E. Stone Melville Elijah Stone (August 22, 1848 – February 15, 1929) was an American newspaper publisher, the founder of the ''Chicago Daily News'', and was the general manager of the reorganized Associated Press. Biography Stone's parents were R ...

and others at the Lawyer’s Club, and then went to the New York Hippodrome in the afternoon. Notes: Melville Elijah Stone (August 22, 1848 – February 15, 1929) was an American newspaper publisher, the founder of the Chicago Daily News, and was the general manager of the reorganized Associated Press. The

New York Hippodrome The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the worl ...

was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the world's largest theatre by its builders and had a seating capacity of 5,300. In 1912, the club relocated to a purpose-built new building which had been designed for the organization by architect

John Vredenburgh Van Pelt John Vredenburgh Van Pelt, F.A.I.A., A.D.G.F., (February 24, 1874 – 1962) was an architectural historian, author, and American architect active in early to mid-twentieth-century New York City. He was a partner in Green & Van Pelt (1906), in T ...

. The Nippon Club remained at 161 West 93rd Street until December 1941. After the Japanese attack on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, the building was seized by the U.S. federal government.Gray, Christopher
"161 West 93rd Street; A Building That Recalls the Days,"
''New York Times.'' September 30, 2001. In 1944, the Federal Office of the Alien Property Custodian sold the building to another; the Manhattan chapter of the

Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...

for $75,000."Elks in New Home; Lodge 1 Takes Over Former Nippon Club in 93d Street,"
''New York Times.'' December 17, 1944. In 1956, the Nippon Club relocated to One Riverside Drive at 72nd Street near Riverside Park. When

Emperor Showa Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

visited the city in 1975, the Nippon Club joined with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of New York and the Japanese American Association of New York in hosting a reception for the Imperial visitors at the

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze ...

. The organization moved into its current home in 1991. The 21-story ''Nippon Club Tower'', which was erected by the club at 145 West 57th Street, between

Seventh Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season e ...

and

Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...

s in Midtown Manhattan, between the

One57 One57, formerly known as Carnegie 57, is a 75-story, supertall skyscraper at 157 West 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in the Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The building has 92 condominium units on top of ...

condominium to the west and the Calvary Baptist Church to the east. The club facilities encompasses a restaurant and tea room, banquet facilities, a ballroom, classrooms, and an exhibition gallery; however, unlike many similar clubs in Manhattan, overnight hotel accommodations were not included. The modern structure, designed by Norboru Uenishi, is faced with glass and granite. The facade is meant to be an abstract rendering of the

Manhattan street grid The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 was the original design for the streets of Manhattan above Houston Street and below 155th Street, which put in place the rectangular grid plan of streets and lots that has defined Manhattan on its march uptown ...

(including the anomalies, such as

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

).Dunlap, David W
"Commercial Property: 57th Street; A New Glitter Added to a Premier Retail Boulevard,"
''New York Times.'' September 30, 1990.

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.nipponclub.org/ Buildings and structures completed in 1912 Clubhouses in Manhattan Gentlemen's clubs in New York City 1905 establishments in New York City 57th Street Japan–United States relations

History

See also

References

External links