Key Contemporary Developments in Japan, Asia
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We have 2 pages of Japanese Architecture selections with links to hundreds of individual project pages. This page lists key building in the major cities. The second page (linked below in bold) lists key buildings outwith the major cities.
We aim to select projects that are either of top quality or interesting or ideally both.
We've selected what we feel are the key recent Japanese Buildings, in chronological order:
Water/Glass Villa, Shizuoka Prefecture (1995)
Yokohama Port Terminal, Tokyo (2002)
TBWA\Hakuhodo, Tokyo (2007)
Museum of Hiroshige Ando, Batou (2000)
Leaf Chapel, Yamanashi (2004)
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
SHELL building, Karuizawa, Nagano (2008)
Fuji Kindergarten, Tachikawa, Tokyo (2008)
Armani/Ginza Tower, Tokyo (2008)
Comments on the Japanese Architecture selection welcome. These are not selected due to their fame - we've left out the Tokyo Tower, Mid Town Tower and Tokyo City Hall - but because each in its way achieved a milestone and signified strong creative achievement.
We cover completed buildings, new building designs, architectural exhibitions and competitions across Japan.
Japanese Building - full list of projects (best selection below)
Major Architecture Projects, alphabetical:
| Armani/Ginza Tower, Tokyo Massimiliano Fuksas Architects  photograph : Ramon Prat Armani/Ginza Tower |
Black House, Kobe-city Tadashi Suga Architect  photo: Yoshiharu Matsumura Black House |
| Boukyo house Nakayama Architects  image from the architect Boukyo home |
Bourou Noguchi, Noboribetsu Onsen Nakayama Architects  image from the architect Contemporary Japanese Hotel |
| Casa Wakasa, Osaka wHY Architecture  picture : Koji Nagasawa Casa Wakasa |
Chokkura Plaza, Tochigi Kengo Kuma & Associates  image : Daici Ano - |
| Crystal brick house - housing,
Tokyo Atelier Tekuto  photo : Makoto Yoshida Japanese housing |
Forest Observatory, Kyushu Island Rintala Eggertsson Architects  photo from the architect Forest Observatory |
| French School, Tokyo albert abut architecture  picture from the architect Japanese Language School |
Fuji Kindergarten, Tachikawa, Tokyo Tezuka Architects  photograph : Katsuhisa Kida Fuji Kindergarten |
| Garage in Asahikawa, Hokkaido Jun Igarashi Architects Inc.  image from the architect Japanese garage building |
Glashaus / Utsubo, Osaka K.Associates  picture © Hitoyuki Hitai Glashaus |
| Home in Fukaya K.Associates  picture © Hitoyuki Hitai Fukaya Home |
Home in Higashi-Otsu K.Associates  photo © Hitoyuki Hitai Higashi-Otsu House |
| House in Kurakuen II K.Associates  picture © Hitoyuki Hitai Kurakuen II House |
Home In Nagata, Kobe-city Tadashi Suga Architect  image : Yoshiharu Matsumura Home In Nagata |
| House in Nipponbashi K.Associates  photo © Hitoyuki Hitai Nipponbashi House |
House in Onitori Kenji Tagashira  photo : Kei Sugino Home in Onitori |
| House in Uehonmachi, Osaka-city Junya Toda Architect & Associates  picture from the architects Osaka-city architecture |
Industrial Designer House, Tokyo Koji Tsutsui  picture : Masao Nishikawa Tokyo House |
| Kakogawa City Office, Hyogo Prefecture Akira Sakamoto  - Kakogawa City building |
Korinkyo House,
northern Japan Nakayama Architects  photo by Makoto Nakayama Korinkyo House |
| Kuramure Hotel, Otaru Nakayama Architects  image from the architect Kuramure Hotel |
Kure City Ondo Civic Center, Hiroshima Kengo Kuma & Associates  - Japanese Civic Center |
| Leaf Chapel, Yamanashi klein dytham architecture  picture from the architect Leaf Chapel Yamanashi |
Light well House, Kyoto Keiichi Hayashi  image : Yoshiyuki Hirai Light well Home Kyoto |
| The Meridian line Ferry Terminal K.Associates  photo © Hitoyuki Hitai Akashi Ferry Terminal |
Millennium Tower, Tokyo Foster + Partners  image : Foster + Partners Millennium Tower Tokyo |
| Mitsumura Office, Kobe-city Tadashi Suga Architect  photo: Yoshiharu Matsumura Mitsumura Office |
Museum of Hiroshige Ando, Batou Kengo Kuma & Associates  image : Mitsumasa Fujitsuka - |
| Nexus Kashi III, Fukuoka Martha Schwartz  picture © Wade Zimmerman Nexus Japan |
Oki, Home Nakayama Architects  - Japanese house |
| Parabola Atelier Tekuto  image : Makoto Yoshida Parabola house |
Reflection of Mineral Atelier Tekuto  photo : Makoto Yoshida Contemporary Japanese home |
| Saint-Gobain Headquarters, Kojimachi albert abut architecture  - Saint-Gobain Headquarters |
Sarou Houmura, Sapporo, Hokkaido Nakayama Architects  - Sapporo architecture |
| SHELL building, Karuizawa, Nagano Kotaro Ide / ARTechnic architects  picture : Nacasa & Partners Inc SHELL villa |
Shin-Marunouchi Building, Tokyo Hopkins Architects  photograph : Miyagawa Inc Tokyo architecture |
| Stadium600 building, Nagoya K.Associates  picture © Hitoyuki Hitai Japanese stadium architecture |
Strata House, Hyogo Prefecture Tadashi Suga Architect  photo: Yoshiharu Matsumura Strata House |
| Suntory Museum of Art Kengo Kuma & Associates  image : Mitsumasa Fujitsuka Suntory Museum of Art |
Tanigami Office + Gallery, Kobe-city Junya Toda Architect & Associates  - Kobe-city architecture |
| TBWA\Hakuhodo, Tokyo Klein Dytham architecture  photograph : Kozo Takayama TBWA\Hakuhodo Tokyo |
Tokiwa House, Sakai City Kenji Tagashira  photograph : Kei Sugino Japanese Home |
| Tokyo Matsuya Unity, Higashiueno Hugo Kohno Architects Associates  photo : Isao Imbe Tokyo Matsuya Unity |
United Bamboo Store, Daikanyama Acconci Studio  - Japanese retail architecture |
| Water/Glass Villa, Shizuoka Prefecture Kengo Kuma & Associates  picture : Mitsumasa Fujitsuka - |
Memorial Hall building, Yamaguchi K.Associates  photo © Hitoyuki Hitai Yamaguchi building |
| Yokohama Port Terminal, Tokyo Foreign Office Architects  picture via RIAS in 2004 Yokohama Ferry Terminal |
Zen house, Hiroshima Ryuichi Furumoto  - Zen house |
More Japanese Architecture online soon
Japanese architect : Fumihiko Maki
Column and Slab House, Tokyo
FT Architects
photograph : Koichi Torimura
Column and Slab House
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
photo © 2008 Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
Modern Japanese Building:
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo - 1959 by Le Corbusier
Japanese architect : Tadao Ando
Traditional Japanese Building:
Katsura Rikyu - Imperial family residence, Kyoto by Lord Enshu Kobori
Edo-period architecture: ‘sukiya’ style Imperial villa - 17th century
Japanese Architects
No larger images, apologies - Tom Heneghan Japanese Architecture:
Fukushima image from Tom Heneghan Architects via RIAS |
Kumamoto image from Tom Heneghan Architects via RIAS |
Memorial Buildings I Library Buildings I Parliament Buildings I Contemporary Housing
World Architecture : e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe
Comments / photos for the Japan Buildings page welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk
Japanese Architecture : page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt
Key Links:
Kisho Kurokawa
Toyo Ito
Tokyo Houses
Skyscraper Designs
Architecture Studios
Contemporary Interiors
New Houses
Museum Buildings
Modern Housing
School Architecture
Japanese Office Architecture
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Japanese Houses
Japanese Expo Architecture