Shinchosha

A Publisher's Head Office and Warehouse above Kagurazaka

The main building and warehouse of Shinchosha (新潮社, Shinchosha), a publisher's head office and book warehouse standing side by side on high ground near Kagurazaka in Yaraicho, Shinjuku City, Tokyo, were registered together in 2025 as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs' announcement describes the main building's dignified glazed-tile exterior and interior fittings designed with staff involvement, including a relief of the world's scripts, and the warehouse as a distribution hub for new books with space for five million volumes. They belong to Ushio Real Estate Co., Ltd.

Shinchosha says the company was founded in 1896 and has its head office at 71 Yaraicho, Shinjuku.

History of the Buildings

According to Shinchosha's history, the southern part of the main building was completed in 1957 and the first warehouse in 1959. The northern part of the main building was then added, and by 1966 the solid main building with its special tile facing had taken its present form.

A sculpture titled The Letters of Humankind was installed on the lobby wall of the extension. The Agency records renovation of the main building in 1992.

The Agency values the main building as an office block representative of one of Japan's leading clusters of publishing, printing and binding.

Layout and Streetscape

The Agency notes that the warehouse stands in line with the main building. Although the floor counts differ, the two match in height and appearance, and their long run of deep eaves creates an extended street frontage.

Seen together from the street, the two buildings show a uniform front that hides the difference in floors, tied by the horizontal line of the eaves.

Getting to Shinchosha

Shinchosha gives directions as 1 minute on foot from exit 2 of Kagurazaka Station on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line, or 7 minutes from exit A1 of Ushigome-kagurazaka Station on the Toei Oedo Line.

Both buildings are in daily use by the company, and no official information on interior access could be found. The exteriors can be seen from the surrounding streets.