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| Brilliant autumn colors along the Kudan-shita moat. |
At one corner of this landscape stands a building with an undeniably peculiar presence — Kudan Kaikan.
A solid, Western-style reinforced-concrete structure topped with a sweeping tiled roof reminiscent of a samurai castle.
It is, in effect, a man in a business suit wearing only a samurai helmet. Odd at first glance, yet strangely captivating.
Kudan Kaikan began its life in 1934 as the Gunjin Kaikan, or Military Hall, funded by the former Military Association in celebration of the Emperor’s enthronement.
Before and during the war, it served for the training and lodging of reserve and auxiliary officers.
After Japan’s defeat, the association was dissolved, the building became state property, and it was requisitioned by the occupying forces. Under the name “Army Hall,” it was used as lodging for GHQ personnel.
In the decades that followed, it became a well-regarded venue for ceremonies and dining.
But the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake caused severe damage, including a major ceiling collapse, and its future became uncertain.
Ultimately, it underwent an extensive restoration and was reborn as Kudan Kaikan Terrace, with a new high-rise volume added behind the historic structure.
Much like the koshimaki (“skirt-wrapping”) approach I have described elsewhere, the original façade and grand staircase were carefully preserved while the building itself was transformed into a mixed-use complex with offices, restaurants, and exhibition facilities.
And now to the heart of its distinctive appearance:
Kudan Kaikan is an example of the Teikan Style — literally, “Imperial Crown Style.”
In short, it is Western architecture wearing only a Japanese roof.
Breaking down the Teikan Style
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| Aichi Prefectural Office — one of the most gloriously over-the-top examples of the Teikan Style. |
Body: A Western-style composition influenced by Art Deco and Neo-Baroque — colonnades, symmetry, a stone-like façade.
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Roof: A full-fledged traditional Japanese roof with tiles, chigi, and karahafu curves.
The result is the startling but unforgettable effect of “a Western building suddenly topped with a Shinto shrine roof.”
Why did this hybrid emerge?
The answer lies in the cultural tensions of Japan in the 1920s and ’30s.
Japan was rapidly modernizing, embracing reinforced concrete and Western aesthetics.
At the same time, debates about “Japan’s own architectural identity” intensified.
With the Manchurian Incident in 1931 and the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the military’s influence grew, and public buildings in particular were increasingly expected to express something “distinctly Japanese.”
Yet architects faced a dilemma:
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A purely Western design looked like “submission to the West.”
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A purely traditional wooden structure was “old-fashioned and vulnerable to earthquakes.”
The Teikan Style emerged as a compromise — an attempt to merge Western functional modernity with Japanese symbolic identity.
The term itself was coined later by scholars; buildings of the period did not always follow a single formula.
Still, several structures today are widely recognized as representative examples.
Notable Examples in Tokyo
1. Kudan Kaikan Terrace (1934)
Its tower capped with an enormous tiled roof makes it instantly recognizable — a building that looks halfway to becoming a castle.
The post-renovation nighttime lighting enhances its presence while allowing it to blend gracefully into the modern cityscape.
2. Tokyo National Museum Main Building (1938)
Also Teikan, but with a more restrained, elegant expression.
If Kudan Kaikan is “loud rock,” the Tokyo National Museum is “quiet classical.”
Look up, however, and the roof
unmistakably echoes a Shinto shrine.
Designed by Watanabe Jin, one of the masters of modern Japanese architecture and the architect of the Ginza Wako building.
The building was designed by Watanabe Jin, one of the leading architects of modern Japan — the same architect behind the iconic Wako Clock Tower in Ginza, which I introduced earlier.
3. Nippon Life Insurance Building (Takashimaya East Wing, est. 1933; later expanded)
Commercial example with Teikan elements. The Teikan characteristics are less immediately obvious, but the Japanese-inspired roof forms and decorative motifs have led some scholars to classify this building as part of the style.
Outside Tokyo, many prefectural and municipal offices adopted the style as well —
Aichi Prefectural Office, Nagoya City Hall, and Kanagawa Prefectural Office (“King’s Tower”) are among the most celebrated.
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| King’s Tower(Kanagawa) |
A Rocky Postwar Fate — and a Recent Revival
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| Nagoya City Hall and Aichi Prefectural Office |
After the war, the Teikan Style became politically tainted.
It was dismissed as a symbol of militarism, and many remarkable buildings were demolished.
Osaka City Hall, Kyoto Prefectural Office, Tokyo City Hall — all would undoubtedly be cultural treasures today, had they survived.
But in the 1990s, architectural historians began to reassess the style.
They argued that it was, in fact, a uniquely Japanese form of modernism, with no true equivalent elsewhere.
Since then, surviving examples have increasingly been designated as cultural properties, appreciated for their historical and architectural value.
Seen today, the Teikan Style is a time capsule of 1930s Japan — a manifestation of its anxieties, contradictions, and determination to project a sense of national identity.
Is it awkward? Is it cool?
The answer is left to each viewer.
If you have a chance to stroll through Kudanshita, look up at Kudan Kaikan.
Let its strange, charming silhouette prompt you to imagine the era that produced such a building.
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