Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building

A red-brick landmark opened in 1914, designed by Kingo Tatsuno. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 2003, it was restored in 2012 to its original three-story form with the south and north domes rebuilt.

Kingo Tatsuno’s Red-Brick Gateway

In 1914, a station building opened on the western face of what is now central Marunouchi, in Chiyoda ward, Tokyo. Designed by Kingo Tatsuno — the architect who shaped much of Japan’s modern built environment through the Meiji and Taishō periods — it presented a long, symmetrical facade of alternating red brick and white granite, with domed pavilions at each end. The structure was framed in steel with brick enclosure (with some sections in reinforced concrete and structural steel), running to three storeys and a total floor area of approximately 43,000 square metres.

The design drew on European precedents for large terminal stations, setting a formal tone for what was intended as the main gateway to the capital. The south and north domes rising at each end gave the building a composed, ceremonial weight unusual in the Tokyo of its day.

War Damage and a Century-Long Return

The station stood intact until 1945, when air raids destroyed the roof, interiors, and both domed ends. The postwar reconstruction brought the building back in reduced form — the three-storey facade rebuilt as two storeys, the domes omitted. For more than sixty years, Tokyo’s main station wore this shortened silhouette.

The path to restoration began with its designation as a National Important Cultural Property in 2003. Construction started in 2007, incorporating a new base-isolation system beneath the existing foundations — a technically demanding solution that allowed the historic exterior walls to be retained while upgrading the structure for seismic safety. In 2012 the south and north domes were rebuilt and the third storey was restored. After nearly a hundred years, the station’s original outline, as Tatsuno had drawn it, stood again.

The adoption of seismic base isolation for an active railway station with century-old walls drew wide attention in both the architecture and civil-engineering fields, and the project is frequently cited as an example of preserving a historical building while meeting contemporary safety standards.

Summary

Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building was completed in 1914, designed by Kingo Tatsuno in steel-framed brick construction with a total floor area of approximately 43,000 square metres. Designated a National Important Cultural Property in 2003, it underwent major restoration work from 2007 to 2012, recovering its original three-story height and twin domes after decades of postwar simplification. Walking across the Marunouchi plaza and turning to face the restored facade — the long horizontal striping, the arched entrance canopies, the twin domes at each end — is one of the most direct encounters with early twentieth-century Tokyo that the city still offers.

Related: Marunouchi Building / Shin-Marunouchi Building / JP Tower (KITTE)

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