Participation in TOKYO ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL 2026

Continuing from last year, we participated in the TOKYO ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL 2026 and hosted a guided tour of our facility on May 20th. The Tokyo Architecture Festival is an interactive event that engages both visitors and site hosts, inspired by international events such as Open House London. The festival is organized through private sector initiatives, launched in 2024 under the theme “Understanding Cities and Connecting with People through Architecture.”

Our guided tour was designed to highlight the deep relationship between the history and culture of the Ueno area and the architectural characteristics of both our main building and the former main building, Kuroda Memorial Hall, considering both spatial and historical dimensions. Our main building (designed by TO’O Tadahiro, 2000) reflects modernist design principles influenced by architect SAKAKURA Junzo, a disciple of Le Corbusier. In contrast, the Kuroda Memorial Hall (designed by OKADA Shin’ichiro, 1928) exemplifies authentic Western architectural style, refined during Japan’s Meiji and Taisho eras from 1868 to 1926.

Although bad weather had been forecast, we were fortunate to enjoy clear blue skies during the tour. In response to requests from last year’s visitors, this year we added a behind-the-scenes tour of our closed-stack library, which houses one of the nation’s foremost fine arts archives, as well as the performance recording studio for intangible cultural properties. We hope that all 40 visitors enjoyed the experience, despite the tour being limited to 90 minutes. We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank everyone who visited our facility, as well as the members of the Tokyo Architecture Festival Executive Committee for organizing the event.

TOKYO ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL 2026 Official Website: https://2026.kenchikusai.tokyo