The area west of JR Tokyo Station is called Mitsubishi Village half in jest, as it is filled with the buildings belonging to the Mitsubishi Zaibatsu conglomerate. This prestigious building stands in this corner. Meiji Seimei was a life insurance company that once belonged to the Mitsubishi Zaibatsu, and now it has merged with another company to form one of the four largest life insurance companies in Japan. The current building in the photo was built in 1934 at the site where the former head office building of Meiji Seimei stood. Tokyo has many massive Western buildings built in the first half of the 20th century that survived the Second World War. And many of them have been designated as important cultural properties. This building, needless to say, is one of them. In 2001, complete retrofit work including the interior and exterior was carried out to be reborn as a modern building while maintaining its classic appearance. From 2022, the exhibition room of Seikado Bunko, a Mitsubishi-affiliated museum in the suburbs of Tokyo, has been moved to the first floor of this building, contributing to the liveliness of this area.
Licensed tour guide, travel consultant,
Masahisa Takaki.
全国通訳案内士 高木聖久
