VOL.200 FEBRUARY 2025
HISTORIC JAPANESE PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE OF THE MODERN ERA Past and Future of Public Architecture in Japan: Postmodern History

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum designed by TANGE Kenzo (Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture)
Photo: Hiroshima Tourism Association

In the second half of the 19th century, Japan started a process of modernization that saw the country advance rapidly in the field of public architecture, as well. We interviewed KURAKATA Shunsuke, a professor at Osaka Metropolitan University, about the history and development of modernization in architecture and the appeal of public architecture itself.

Could you give us an overview of how architectural modernization began in Japan, and how public architecture developed in particular?

Experts believe that there were two major trends in the process of modernization in Japanese architecture.


One of these trends began in the second half of the 19th century, when Japan came into closer contact with foreign cultures and adopted Western architectural styles in order to pursue relationships of equality with European countries and the United States.

Following the opening of the country to the outside world in 1854, Western-style buildings were erected in foreign settlements¹ in Yokohama and Nagasaki, which had the status of treaty ports.² However, these buildings were designed and constructed by Japanese toryo³ (master carpenters) under the direction of the resident foreigners in a manner adapted to the local climate and materials. Later, the architecture of these foreign settlements was used as a reference to develop a new style that imitated Western architectural designs using traditional Japanese materials and techniques such as shikkui⁴ and sakan.⁵ For example, brickwork and stonework were not made with real bricks or stones. Instead, shikkui was applied to the surface of the wall to make it look as if bricks or stones had been stacked on top of each other. Nowadays, this style is known as “Gi-yofu architecture (or Pseudo-Western Architecture, means imitation of western-style architecture).” As times changed and the Meiji era (1868-1912) began, the class system became less strict, resulting in the abolition of existing class-based restrictions on the appearance and scale of many kinds of buildings, they were constructed according to the owner’s wishes. In addition, as part of the modernization trends, various public buildings were built, mainly in Western styles. However, as traditional Japanese wooden construction techniques were quite advanced, they used the techniques to create new buildings that combined a variety of styles, like the examples of bricks and stones mentioned earlier.


There are examples of unique buildings financed by local residents, particularly in the field of hospital and school architecture. At the Former Kaichi School Building, which still stands in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, local carpenters drew on traditional Japanese wooden construction techniques to create a unique design, using the settlement architecture of Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, as a reference.

In the second trend of modernization, the new government of the Meiji era initiated a national policy to educate and train architectural experts as a first step toward creating authentic Western-style buildings. In 1877, a Department of Architecture was established at the Imperial College of Engineering⁶ of the Ministry of Public Works,⁷ marking the beginning of full-fledged architectural education in Japan. The college produced a number of modern architects, one of whom was TATSUNO Kingo, who designed Tokyo Station (see “Tokyo Station, one of Japan’s largest European-style architecture in the modern era, celebrated its 110th anniversary”). This paved the way for the construction of a large number of authentic Western-style public buildings designed by Japanese architects.

Then, in the 1920s, a major new architectural trend called Modern Architecture (also called “modernist architecture”) occurred worldwide. Whereas architecture up to that point had essentially been created with reference to past architectural styles, this new trend did not rely on the historical architectural designs of the past, but used new, industrially produced materials such as steel, concrete, and glass, in pursuit of a new style of architecture with structures and expressiveness specific to these materials. Japan also began to feel the effects of this trend, but in the 1920s and 1930s, in the social climate of heightened nationalism in the run-up to the war, the Imperial Crown Style, a type of reinforced- concrete building in a Western-style but with traditional Japanese-style roof designs including tiled roof, became prevalent in public architecture. The Aichi Prefectural Government Office, the Nagoya City Hall, and the Kyoto City Museum of Art are examples of this style, and their intricate designs have enjoyed a renewed appreciation in recent years.

Can you give us some typical examples of public architecture and their characteristics from the post-war period, when modernism was at its height, to the present day?

As a country defeated in World War II, Japan pushed forward to rejoin the international community and, as part of this effort, embraced modernism in the field of architecture. This can be contrasted with other Asian countries (e.g., China, Korea, etc.) that focused more on preserving traditional architectural elements. Modernism, with its focus on functionality and rationality, spread around the world in the post-war period. Japan was also swept up in the great wave of modernism, and Japanese architects, influenced by the standard bearer of Modern Architecture, Le Corbusier,⁸ developed their own works of Modern Architecture with each unique concept. In addition to MAEKAWA Kunio, SAKAKURA Junzo, and YOSHIZAKA Takamasa, who actually studied with Le Corbusier, a number of Japanese architects, including TANGE Kenzo,⁹ who absorbed various lessons from Le Corbusier’s creations, gained worldwide recognition for their work. Perhaps this is because, while in Europe and the US there are many existing buildings in historic styles that are closely linked to local communities, religion, and other aspects of people’s daily lives, the functional and rational characteristics of modernism was a good fit with Japanese culture and the character of the Japanese people, who have always valued simplicity and understated elegance.

Japanese architects developed modernism for architecture by their works based on their own concepts and gained global influence. It is not widely known the fact that Japan receives an outstanding international reputation in the field of architecture and has the highest number of recipients of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered the Nobel Prize for architecture, of any country (as of the end of 2024). It is often said that anime, manga, and other forms of Japanese culture are now taking the world by storm, but I think more Japanese people should know that Japan is also a world-class country in the field of architecture.

The first Japanese architect to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize was TANGE Kenzo. The buildings he worked on, including the Yoyogi National Gymnasium (Shibuya City, Tokyo), St. Mary’s Cathedral, Tokyo (Bunkyo City, Tokyo), and the Kagawa Prefectural Government Office East Building (see “Iconic Work of Renowned Architect TANGE Kenzo: Kagawa Prefectural Government Office East Building”), enjoy high international acclaim. Among them, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which TANGE designed as his debut work when he was around 40, is a highly regarded public building. Its innovative design, incorporating the pilotis¹⁰ style characteristic of Modern Architecture and planned and positioned along an axis¹¹ that connects to the Atomic Bomb Dome, a symbol of the destruction caused by the atomic bomb, makes this work of TANGE Kenzo a true masterpiece created.

There is a reason why his debut as an architect came rather late in life, at the age of 40. There was a period of about 15 years, from 1937 to 1952, when reinforced concrete construction was restricted due to material regulations imposed as impacts of World War II and other circumstances. It was a difficult time for architects, but it was also a time when they could slow down and deepen their thinking. The late 1950s and 1960s, immediately following the lifting of regulations, can be described as the golden age of Modern Architecture in Japan, when the various works based on ideas they had been thinking really bloomed.

The 1970s marked the beginning of the next stage in the development of modern Japanese architecture. The end of rapid economic growth and various social problems led to criticism of Modern Architecture and the emergence of the postmodern trend, in which various architects advanced the development of Japanese architecture. One of the leading architects of this period was MAKI Fumihiko. His work combined the characteristics of Modern and Postmodern Architecture, creating public spaces such as the Daikanyama Hillside Terrace (Shibuya City, Tokyo) that embrace a diverse range of people. ISOZAKI Arata, who introduced global postmodern trends to Japan, sought a cleaner break from modernism and developed original and highly creative architecture that was not bound by conventional styles. His representative works include the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art (see “Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Known as the ‘Binoculars on the Hill’”) and the Kitakyushu City Library (both in Fukuoka Prefecture).

Architectural trends in Japan continued to shift from modernism to postmodernism and on through the economic bubble period. Since the 1990s, they have increasingly focused on the environmental and social aspects of architecture. Rather than simply returning to tradition, these trends in Japanese architecture have simultaneously created new value and thereby contributed to the global architectural community.

Today, architects such as ISOZAKI Arata, ANDO Tadao and ITO Toyoo, who emphasize not only functional rationality, but also the enrichment of people’s daily lives and a sense of spiritual liberation, have become influential worldwide. In the modern era, the spotlight is on architects who are concerned with finding solutions to environmental and social issues, such as Sou Fujimoto, the architect behind the Grand Ring at EXPO 2025 in Osaka (see “One of the World’s Largest Wooden Structures: The ‘Grand Roof (Ring)’ at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan”).

In your opinion, what is the essence of public architecture and what is the best way of appreciating it?

It is very difficult to provide a concise description of public architecture, as there are many different types of buildings, but I believe that it is the architecture of structures and spaces, such as art museums or libraries, that provide opportunities to encounter diverse values and where people with different ideas and purposes can come together. Recent public buildings in particular do not have a fixed use, but tend to have complex functions and change according to time and circumstances. For example, a library may host spaces that provide childcare support, or become a theater at night. A recent example of such public buildings is the Ibaraki City Cultural and Childcare Complex Onikuru in Osaka Prefecture. In this sense, public buildings have become spaces that offer possibilities to encounter more diverse values.

On the other hand, public architecture have historically been built in response to societal demands and challenges, and they are constructed under various constraints, such as strict legal regulations and budgets. In other words, through the architecture that is still in place, we can understand the society and values of the historical period in question, and I find this fascinating. By viewing the architecture of the past from a contemporary perspective, we can also feel the change in values over time. As public architecture reflect the times and change with them, they also give a tangible form to the circumstances and attitudes of the contemporary society in which we live, so in the future they will become testaments to our present. In this way, public architecture reflect the evolution of values from the past to the present. By examining this evolution closely, we can gain a better perspective for the future.

• 1. Certain areas specifically designated by the government as settlement and trading zones for foreigners at the time the country was opened to the outside world.
• 2. At the time, diplomatic relations with foreign countries were cut off due to the isolationist policy, but in 1858, Japan signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce Between the United States and the Empire of Japan, as well as treaties of amity and commerce with the Netherlands, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France (commonly known as the Ansei Five-Power Treaties), and opened the ports of Kobe and Yokohama to foreign trade.
• 3. Carpenters (daiku) are craftspeople who primarily build or repair wooden buildings, and the carpenters who hold leadership positions are called master carpenters (daiku toryo).
• 4. A building material with excellent fire resistance, made by mixing ingredients such as hydrated lime and water.
• 5. A traditional Japanese craft in which plaster made from natural ingredients is applied to walls by hand.
• 6. A higher education institution established under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Works. It was responsible for developing human resources for the industrial sector.
• 7. A central government agency established to promote industrial modernization. It oversaw government-run projects.
• 8. Le Corbusier (1887 – 1965). Born in Switzerland, and an architect who established the foundations of Modern Architecture.
• 9. TANGE Kenzo (1913 – 2005). Contributed to the development of contemporary Modern Architecture. Became the first Japanese person to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1987.
• 10. A structure in which the ground floor of a building consists only of columns, creating an open space. As a result, the ground floor becomes a large space that can be used freely.
• 11. A term used in architecture and design to describe a central line or baseline direction.

By MOROHASHI Kumiko
Photo: Adobe Stock: Hiroshima Tourism Association; Kumamoto Prefectural Tourism Federation; PIXTA