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MEIJI SEIMEI KAN

  • After three years and seven months, the Meiji Life Insurance Building opened in March of 1934, as the culmination of classical office building architecture.From the wartime metal deliveries, to the fire bombing of Tokyo, to being requisitioned by the American military from 1945 to 1956 as a general headquarters for East Asian Air Force command, the Meiji Life Insurance Building lived through the turmoil of the twentieth century; to that end, in 1997, it became Japan's first building to be registered as a Tangible Cultural Asset as an example of Showa-era architecture.
    Today, the building is open to the public on weekends.

Opening to the public

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[Admission] Free
[Reception] Please enter from the west entrance and come to the reception desk on the 2nd floor.
[Hours] 9:30 - 19:00 (entry until 18:30)
*The building is closed from December 31 to January 3 for electrical maintenance.
*Admission is subject to capacity restrictions. Please note that you may be asked to wait to enter the museum depending on the number of people inside.

Meiji Life Insurance Building Highlights

  • Colonnade

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    The building features a colonnade of Corinthian columns, complete with authentic ancient Greek-style entasis (outward curve). The tops of the columns are decorated with an acanthus-leaf motif.

  • First-floor store

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    Featuring a comfortable historic atmosphere evocative of the day the building first opened.

  • Acanthus-leaf motif

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    The bronze doors at the west and south entrances, as well as the first-floor store’s ceiling, are decorated with an acanthus-leaf motif.
    Acanthus was prized by the Greeks for the beautiful shape of its leaves, leading to its use in both a wide range of ancient Greek architecture and more contemporary architecture.

  • Office

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    The southern side of the second floor features five offices, all with wooden parquet floors and beautiful wooden paneled déor.

  • Second-floor meeting room no.1

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    The first Allied Council for Japan* was held here in April of 1946, with General MacArthur in attendance.
    *A four-way meeting between representatives of the US, the UK, China, and the Soviet Union to discuss and set the policy for the postwar occupation of Japan

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