Fuji Television Headquarters Building

A 25-story broadcasting facility completed in 1996 on Odaiba, designed by Kenzo Tange Associates. Two interconnected towers and a 32-metre diameter spherical observation pod make it one of the most distinctive buildings on Tokyo Bay's waterfront.

Use

Office tower

Area

Minato City

Completed

1996

Floors

25 above ground, 2 below

Height

123 m

Developer

Fuji Television Network

Architect

Kenzo Tange Associates

The Sphere Above the Bay

Standing on the Odaiba waterfront, the Fuji Television Headquarters Building — formally named FCG Building — is unmistakable. Two tower blocks are connected by bridge corridors at the seventh and eighth floors, and from that junction a 32-metre steel sphere projects outward over the bay. The building stands approximately 123 metres tall with 25 above-ground floors and two basement levels, and was completed in 1996. The design is by Kenzo Tange Associates; construction ran from April 1993 to June 1996.

For Tange, who shaped Japan’s postwar architectural identity through buildings like Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the National Gymnasium at Yoyogi, and St. Mary’s Cathedral, the FCG Building represented one of his final major commissions. The building’s form — two linked towers with a floating sphere — was a deliberate departure from the rectangular office slab. The glass facade facing Tokyo Bay maximises natural light and the visual connection to the water, both appropriate to a broadcasting company occupying a showcase site in the 1990s Odaiba development. The sphere previously housed a public observation deck with panoramic views over the bay.

Summary

Fuji Television Headquarters was completed in 1996 with 25 floors and a height of approximately 123 metres, designed by Kenzo Tange Associates as one of the architect’s final major works. Its twin-tower form and 32-metre observation sphere made it an instant landmark on the Odaiba waterfront. Arriving by Yurikamome or the Rinkai Line and approaching from the esplanade gives the clearest view of the building’s bold geometry against the bay — a fitting late chapter in Tange’s career.

Related: Rainbow Bridge / Tokyo International Cruise Terminal

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