Kasumigaseki
Kasumigaseki
Station is located in
Chiyoda Ward of Tokyo. It serves
the Kasumigaseki government district
with the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi,
Hibiya, and Chiyoda Lines. All the
three lines have 2-way island platforms.
Kasumigaseki
Kasumigaseki
is the district of Chiyoda Ward
where most of Japan's cabinet ministries
are located. Its history as a government
district goes back to the early
Meiji era, before which it was home
to daimyo estates. The
Meiji government acquired the land
from the daimyo and developed
it into a government area. The first
ministry to be set up in the district
was the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, which was moved
here from Ginza in 1870. After that
various ministries made their home
here and developed into today's
government offices district of Kasumigaseki.
The
government offices in Kasumigaseki
are located in several different
buildings:
Ministry
of Justice Building: This
red-brick neo-baroque building,
designed by German architects H.
Ende and W. Bockmann, was completed
in 1895. It survived the 1923 Great
Kanto Earthquake, but was destroyed
in the World War II bombardments.
It was rebuilt and used again as
the Ministry of Justice
in 1950. In 1991, the
building was renovated and restored
to its original design. Due to its
aesthetic design and beauty, the
building, which also includes the
Ministry of Justice Museum,
has been designated an Important
Cultural Property of Japan.
The
next building to be built in Kasumigaseki
was the modern 6-story building,
which houses the Ministry
of Education, Culture, Sports, Science
and Technology. Constructed
in 1933, this imposing structure
stands on the south side of Kasumigaseki.
Building
No. 1 was the first government
building to be constructed in Kasumigaseki
in the post-War era. Completed in
1954, it houses the Ministry
of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries of Japan,
the Food Agency,
the Forest Agency
and the Fisheries Agency.
The
Ministry of Finance is
housed in a nearby 5-story building.
This building was completed in 1943,
but after the War, it was taken
over by the U.S. Army. It remained
under U.S. control till 1955 when
it was returned to Japan. The building
was repaired and in 1963, the Ministry
of Finance moved in.
The
next building to come up in the
district was designed and constructed
by the Government Buildings Department.
One half of it was completed in
1968, and the other half in 1973.
This building is distinguished from
the others by its continuous windows
with the pillars set inside the
windows, and the emphasis on horizontal
lines. This building houses the
Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry.
In
the 1970's and the 1980's, several
skyscrapers were built in Kasumigaseki.
Some of these were used to house
ministries. Like Building
No. 5, completed in 1983,
houses the Ministry of Health,
Labor, and Welfare; and
the Ministry of Environment.
The
other buildings of the district
are homes to the Ministry
of Internal Affairs and Communications;
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
and Transport; Tokyo
High Court; Tokyo
District Court; Tokyo
Metropolitan Police Headquarters;
Fair Trade Commission;
Coast Guard Headquarters;
Patent Office;
and Japan Post Headquarters.
