University of Tokyo Law and Letters Building 2

An L-Shaped Building Facing Law and Letters Building 1

The University of Tokyo Law and Letters Building 2 (東京大学法文２号館) is a reinforced concrete teaching building completed in 1938 on the Hongo campus of the University of Tokyo in Bunkyo City, Tokyo, which in 1998 was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records four storeys and a building area of 3435 square metres, registered as a model of design, designed by Uchida Yoshikazu.

The Agency notes that it faces Law and Letters Building 1 across the east-west axis.

Structure and Design

The Agency notes that, like Building 1, it has a Gothic arcade on the ground floor forming a passage, but its western end turns in an L-shape in response to Law Building 3.

Part of the fourth floor was added in recent decades, as on Building 1. The university explains that this rooftop storey, designed by Koyama Hisao, uses quarter-circle vaults of weathering steel, apparently inspired by the top floors of Parisian apartment buildings; the first phase was finished in 1976 and the whole in 1981.

What to Look For

Compare it with Building 1 across the axis on the way to Yasuda Auditorium. The rooftop vaults were designed to respect the original buildings and keep the campus unified.

Visiting

Faculty buildings are generally closed to visitors, so view the exterior from the campus grounds. The ground-floor arcade is a campus passage.

Visiting rules and directions for the campus are on the University of Tokyo Hongo Campus group page.