is a
high-rise building
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...
in
Nishi-Shinjuku
is a skyscraper business district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. This region was previously called .
Nishi-Shinjuku was Tokyo's first major foray into building skyscrapers with the first appearing in the 1970s with Keio Plaza Inter-Continental. It ...
,
Shinjuku
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...
,
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 ...
.
Design
The building's three-sided construction makes good use of available space, yet the building's design sacrifices valuable floor space by including a massive atrium running the entire height of the building. The building's most recognizable characteristic is its shape and structure. It is most simply described as triangular (a more apt description would be a triangle with all the corners cut off), hence why one of its nicknames is 'the Triangle'.
Also distinctive is the visible emergency elevator, which is used to transport cargo and not everyday passengers.
Development
Construction began in November 1971 and was finished on March 6, 1974. At the time of its completion, its elevators were the fastest in the world at 540 meters per minute. It was the tallest building in Tokyo from March to September 1974 when it was surpassed by the
Shinjuku Mitsui Building
The is a high-rise building in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo. It is owned by Mitsui Fudosan. It is one of the ten tallest buildings in Tokyo, and was the tallest building in Tokyo and Japan from September 1974 to March 1978, when Sunshine 60 ...
which is located just to the east of the Sumitomo building. It was developed by
Sumitomo Realty & Development
Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., Ltd. is a Japanese real estate development company headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It is a member of the Sumitomo Group.
It is one of the three largest real estate developers in Japan, alongside Mitsubishi Es ...
, the real estate arm of the
Sumitomo Group
The is one of the largest Japanese ''keiretsu'', or business groups, founded by Masatomo Sumitomo (1585-1652) around 1615 during the early Edo period.
History
The Sumitomo Group traces its roots to a bookshop in Kyoto founded circa 1615 by Ma ...
, and previously housed Sumitomo Realty's headquarters.
A pioneering skyscraper in Shinjuku, many companies are tenants of the building, as well as several restaurants. The free observation deck on the 51st floor was closed on April 1, 2017.
Popular culture
In the 1984 film ''
The Return of Godzilla
is a 1984 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Koji Hashimoto, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. The film features the fictional monster character Godzilla. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is ...
'', the Sumitomo Building was knocked over by
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...
, crushing and breaking the Super X.
Also, in the Doraemon film , the building was accidentally destroyed in the World Inside the Mirror by the huge robot
Zanda Claus.
See also
*
List of tallest structures in Japan
Japan has more than 270 high-rise buildings above . Unlike other Asian countries with skyscrapers exceeding in height, Japan's skyscrapers are relatively shorter. Construction is difficult due to the high cost of labor and construction mater ...
References
External links
Official web site of the building(in Japanese)
Shinjuku Sumotomo Triangle Street(in Japanese)
Skyscrapers in Shinjuku
Skyscraper office buildings in Tokyo
Office buildings completed in 1974
1974 establishments in Japan
Triangular buildings
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