Kasumigaseki Building

Kasumigaseki Building
霞が関ビルディング
Kasumigaseki Building in 2022
Record height
Tallest in Japan from 1968 to 1970^[I]
Preceded by	Hotel New Otani Tokyo
Surpassed by	Tokyo World Trade Center Building
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Mixed-use
Location	3-2-5 Kasumigaseki Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Coordinates	35°40′17″N 139°44′50″E
Construction started	March 1965
Completed	1968[1]
Opening	April 1968[2]
Owner	Kasumi Kaikan Incorporated Association Mitsui Fudosan[2]
Height
Roof	482 feet (147 m)[1]
Technical details
Floor count	36 above ground 3 below ground[3]
Floor area	153,234 square meters (1,649,400 sq ft)[2]
Lifts/elevators	29 passenger and 6 freight, by Toyo Otis and Hitachi
Grounds	16,320 square meters (175,700 sq ft)[2]
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Kajima Construction[4]

The Kasumigaseki Building (霞が関ビルディング, Kasumigaseki birudingu) is a 36-story skyscraper located in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo.

History

The building is owned by the Kasumi Kaikan (霞会館), an association of the former kazoku high nobility.^[5] The plot was once owned by the Kazoku Kaikan (華族会館), the previous association, which was changed after World War II in 1947.

Completed in 1968, the building is widely regarded as the first modern office skyscraper in Japan.^[6] The reason high-rise buildings were not built in the country earlier was that Japan's Building Standard Law set an absolute height limit of 31 meters (102 ft) until 1963, when the limit was abolished in favor of a Floor Area Ratio limit.^[7]

Tenants

The Asian Development Bank Institute has its head office on the 8th floor of the Kasumigaseki Building.^[8] On the same floor, the Asian Development Bank has its Japan offices.^[9] Children and Families Agency has its head office on this building.^[10]

At one time All Nippon Airways had its headquarters in the building,^[11] as did Mitsui Chemicals.^[12] In July 1978, when Nippon Cargo Airlines first began, it operated within a single room inside All Nippon Airways's space in the Kasumigaseki Building.^[13]

Two airlines, Garuda Indonesia and Union des Transports Aériens, at one time had offices in the building.^[14][15]

PricewaterhouseCoopers had offices on the 15th floor of the building.^[16]

The Kasumi Kaikan has their club rooms on the 34th floor and is strictly for members only, namely descendants of the kazoku.^[5]

In popular culture

The Kasumigaseki Building is the main subject of the film Chōkōsō no Akebono, which was backed by Kajima Construction, the company that built the Kasumigaseki Building.^[4] The building was often used for comparison to things with large volumes in Japan which continued until the construction of the Tokyo Dome, a huge indoor stadium.

References

1. "Kasumigaseki Building". Emporis. Emporis. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
2. "Kasumigaseki Building Guide Book" (PDF). kasumigaseki36.com. July 2008. p. 3. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
3. "Kasumigaseki Building". skyscrapercenter.com. The Skyscraper Center. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
4. Schilling, Mark. "Airplane flick tells only half the story." The Japan Times. Friday November 14, 2008. Retrieved on February 19, 2010.
5. "The Last Retreat Of Japan'S Nobility". The Washington Post. 1997-05-21. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
6. "Japan's first skyscraper turns 30". Japan Times. 1998-04-17. Archived from the original on 2015-03-24.
7. Wantanabe, Hiroshi (2001). The Architecture of Tokyo. Edition Axel Menges. p. 119. ISBN 3-930698-93-5.
8. "Contact Us." Asian Development Bank Institute. Retrieved on February 19, 2012. "ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK INSTITUTE Kasumigaseki Building 8F 3-2-5, Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-6008, Japan"
9. "Contacts." (Archive) Asian Development Bank. Retrieved on February 19, 2012. "Kasumigaseki Building 8F 3-2-5 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-6008, Japan"
10. こども家庭庁. "Global Site - Children and Families Agency｜Child and Family Agency". Child and Family Agency. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
11. "World Airline Directory." Flight International. March 30, 1985. 50." Retrieved on June 17, 2009.
12. "What's New." Mitsui Chemicals. June 5, 2001. Retrieved on February 18, 2010.
13. "Chapter 3. On the path to becoming a member of the incumbent carrier group." Nippon Cargo Airlines. Retrieved on February 18, 2010.
14. Taylor, Chris and Nicko Goncharoff. Japan. Lonely Planet, 1997. 243. Retrieved from Google Books on February 19, 2010. ISBN 0-86442-493-0, ISBN 978-0-86442-493-8.
15. Directory of Foreign Residents, Volume 31. Japan Times, 1978. 479. Retrieved from Google Books (original from the University of Michigan, digitized December 9, 2008) on February 19, 2010.
16. "PwC office locations in Japan." PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Retrieved on February 18, 2010.

External links

• Kasumigaseki Building Official site (in Japanese)

Records
Preceded by Hotel New Otani Tokyo	Tallest building in Japan 156 m (512 ft) 1968–1970	Succeeded by World Trade Center Building
	Tallest building in Tokyo 156 m (512 ft) 1968–1970