Nagatacho

Nagatacho Station is a subway station located in the Nagatacho district of Chiyoda Ward of Tokyo. It serves the Tokyo Metro Hanzomon, Namboku, and Yurakucho subway lines. Nagatacho Station is connected to Akasaka Mitsuke Station by underground walkways.

Nagatacho is the district in eastern Tokyo where the National Diet, the Supreme Court, the Cabinet Office, and the official residences of the Prime Minster, the Speaker of the House of Councillors and Speaker of the House of Representatives are located. As opposed to Kasumigaseki, which is used figuratively to refer to bureaucracy, Nagatacho is used figuratively to refer to the government. 

Places of Interest:

National Diet Building Complex

Located just 1 minute walk from Nagatacho Station is the National Diet Building. The National Diet Building is the place where the Japanese National Diet, or the legislature, meets. The Building is divided into two wings – the right and the left. Sessions of the House of Representatives take place in the left wing, and sessions of the House of Councilors in the right.

The design of the National Diet Building was selected from 118 designs submitted in a design competition in 1918. The winner was Watanabe Fukuzo, on whose design the floor plan of the Diet Building was based. The roof and the tower of the building were based on third prize winner Yakeuchi Shinshichi's design. This was chosen as it reflected a modern hybrid of both Eastern and Western architectural designs. The building was completed in 1936.

The Main Entrance in the front of the building has bronze doors. This entrance is opened only for the Emperor, the Diet members on the first day after an election, and state guests. Facing the Main Entrance is the Central Hall. This 267.65 square meter Hall has stained glass windows and ceiling lights, and bronze statues of Hirobumi Ito (1841 - 1909), Shigenobu Okuma (1838 - 1922), and Taisuke Itagaki (1837 - 1919) – all of whom are credited with helping form the present Japanese parliamentary system.

There is a grand staircase going up from the Central Hall that leads up to the Emperor's Room. The Emperor uses this room whenever he visits the Diet. Also on this floor are the Chamber of the House of Councilors, and the Chamber of the House of Representatives. These Chambers are where the two houses hold their meetings. The Offices of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Vice-Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Committee Chairman are also situated on this floor. The State Ministers' Rooms are located on the second floor.

In 1969, an Annex to the House of Representatives was built to the south of the Diet Building. This building, which is connected to the Diet Building by an underground passageway, contains various committee rooms. There are also 3 Members' Office Buildings located across the road from the back of the Diet Building. Two of these Office Buildings house offices of each of the members of the House of Representatives. The third Office Building has offices for the members of the House of Councilors. All the three buildings are connected to the Diet Building by underground passageways.

The Diet Front Park is located in the front of the Diet Building. On one side of the Park is the Parliamentary Museum. This museum, which is open to the public, was built in 1971 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Japanese parliament. It contains exhibits illustrative of parliaments throughout the world, as well as information and exhibits related to the development of parliamentary government in Japan.

To the north of the Diet Building is the National Diet Library. This library was established in 1948 with an initial collection of 100,000 volumes. In 1949, it was merged with the National Library and a further million volumes were gained. The Library was moved to its present location in 1961. Today, the National Diet Library is the only public library in Japan and contains a total of 12 million books and periodicals. Although the original purpose of the library was researching for the National Diet members, its largest user is the general public. The collections at the Library cover practically every subject and topic – ranging from Modern Political and Constitutional History, Materials Concerning the Postwar Occupation of Japan, Laws and Preliminary Records, to Science and Technology, Music, and Foreign Books. There are also a large number of rare books and materials from the Edo period.

Supreme Court of Japan

The Supreme Court of Japan is located a short distance from Nagatacho Station. Called Saiko-Sai for short, it is the ultimate judicial authority in Japan. Established in 1947, it was moved to its present location in Nagatacho in 1974. This 5-story building, designed by Shinichi Okada, has been awarded the Architecture Institute of Japan Prize for Design.