Shōwa

Discover Ohashi Saryo, a registered cultural property in Tokyo featuring five exquisite tea houses including a replica of National Treasure Joan. Experience authentic Japanese tea ceremonies in this urban oasis near Kamiyacho Station.

Discover ICU's Diffendorfer Memorial Hall, a registered tangible cultural property designed by Vories Architectural Office in 1958. Explore its modernist design, early aluminum sash windows, and rich heritage on the tranquil Mitaka campus.

Discover Mitsubishi Electric Takanawa-so, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Tokyo's prestigious Shirokanedai district. This historic estate features three early Showa-period buildings showcasing the finest Japanese-Western hybrid residential architecture of the 1930s.

Held at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, this 1953 hanging scroll by Yasuda Yukihiko (1884–1978) depicts Konohana-no-Sakuyabime—the goddess of Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms from the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. Designated a Registered Work of Art in 2019, it is recognized as one of the artist's representative masterworks of modern Nihonga.

Kiyosu Bridge, completed in 1928 over the Sumida River, is a graceful self-anchored suspension bridge modeled after Cologne's Hindenburg Bridge. Designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan in 2007, it remains a masterpiece of post-earthquake reconstruction engineering and modern bridge aesthetics.

The only building Le Corbusier designed in Japan, opened in 1959. Its pilotis, central hall and spiral ramp embody his concept of a Museum of Unlimited Growth.

Standing in stately proportion at the heart of Nihonbashi-Muromachi, the Mitsui Main Building is one of Tokyo's most magnificent surviving works of early Showa-era architecture. Completed in 1929 as the headquarters of the prewar Mitsui zaibatsu, it was designed by the New York firm Trowbridge & Livingston in a confident American Beaux-Arts neoclassical style. Towering Corinthian columns line three street facades, and a vast marble banking hall on the first floor embodies the design ideals of "Grandeur, Dignity, and Simplicity" set out by managing director Dan Takuma. In 1998 it became the first large multi-tenant office building in Japan to receive Important Cultural Property status. Today the seventh floor houses the Mitsui Memorial Museum, displaying six National Treasures and dozens of further masterpieces from three centuries of the Mitsui family collection.

Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi Main Store, tracing its origins to the Echigoya kimono shop founded in 1673, was designated a National Important Cultural Property in 2016. Designed by the Yokogawa Engineering Office, the building features a majestic Western classical exterior, a breathtaking five-story marble central hall, and Art Deco interiors that showcase pioneering design from each era of expansion. Highlights include the towering Magokoro wooden sculpture, historic Wurlitzer pipe organ performances, and a tranquil rooftop garden. Located just one minute from Mitsukoshimae Station on the Tokyo Metro.

Standing at the heart of Aoyama Gakuin University's campus in Shibuya, Tokyo, Berry Hall was completed in 1931 as the new School of Theology building, the final phase of recovery from the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. This three-story reinforced concrete Neo-Gothic structure honors Dean Arthur D. Berry, who led the American fundraising campaign for its construction. Inside, the Charles Oscar Miller Memorial Chapel houses a 1932 German Walcker pipe organ — believed to be the oldest of its maker still in active use in Japan — and inspired the famous Showa-era song 'Student Days.' Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2008.

Tucked away in a Kagurazaka backstreet, Issuiryō is a two-story wooden building constructed around 1951 as a carpenters' dormitory. Now a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, it preserves the hand-adzed lattices and skilled joinery of postwar Japanese craftsmanship.

Discover the Okada Nikki Shōnin Memorial Auditorium in Suginami, Tokyo — a 1937 reinforced-concrete school hall registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2022. Learn about its modernist design, founder Okada Nikki Shōnin's vision, and connection to Horinouchi Myōhōji Temple.

Just a fifteen-minute walk from Shibuya Station, Onko Gakkai Kaikan is a quietly remarkable reinforced-concrete building completed in 1927 and designated a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2000. Designed and built by Shimizu-gumi, today's Shimizu Construction, the hall safeguards over twenty thousand original Edo-period woodblocks for Gunsho Ruijū, the monumental classical anthology compiled by the blind scholar Hanawa Hokiichi. Now open to the public as the Hanawa Hokiichi Memorial Museum, it offers an unforgettable glimpse into Japan's literary heritage.

Built in 1928 on the birthplace of Tokyo University, this SRC clubhouse by Toshikata Sano and Teitaro Takahashi served the alumni of Japan's seven former Imperial Universities. A Registered Tangible Cultural Property since 2003 and a Tokyo Metropolitan designation since 2025, it is currently closed for redevelopment until around 2030.

Designed in 1927 by Okada Shin'ichiro, architect of the Kabukiza, this kuri at Gokokuin is a rare Japanese-style work by a modern master, and Kan'eiji's first sub-temple.

Just 1.8 m wide, this inner gate once stood at the street and was moved in 1962. On its mukuri roof, the courtyard it frames, and a conflict between sources.

The 1962 nagayamon of the former Yoshioka residence, assembled from salvaged timber: eight nyubyo studs, 150 Tokyo tramway setts, a hand-painted nameplate.

The Kiyokawa Shop in Nihonbashi Koamicho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, is the premises of Unagi Kiyokawa, a prestigious eel restaurant founded in 1874 during the Meiji era. The two-story wooden building, constructed in 1927 in the refined sukiya architectural style after the Great Kanto Earthquake, was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2018 as an exceptionally rare example of traditional wooden architecture surviving in central Tokyo. Beloved by literary giants including Tanizaki Junichiro and Watanabe Junichi, the restaurant continues to serve authentic Edo-style grilled eel prepared with a secret sauce that has been continuously replenished since its founding.

Discover the Ginza Onoya Store and Main Residence, a precious wooden commercial building from 1951 that preserves the postwar streetscape of Ginza. This Registered Tangible Cultural Property is home to a traditional tabi shop with a unique pentagonal floor plan.

Discover the Ginza Lion Building, home to Japan's oldest surviving beer hall since 1934. A Registered Tangible Cultural Property featuring stunning glass mosaic murals, Art Deco design, and the timeless spirit of Tokyo's Ginza district.

Discover the Kurosawa Building, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Ueno, Tokyo. Built in 1930 as the Ogawa Eye Hospital, this Expressionist-style reinforced concrete building houses the final stained glass masterpieces of Ogawa Sanchi, Japan's pioneering stained glass artist.