was a Japanese

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

noted for his use of western architectural styles in the later

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

. One of the famous disciples of Josiah Conder.

Early life and career

Together with Katayama Tokuma,

Tatsuno Kingo was a Japanese architect born in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, Kyushu. He was a Doctor of Engineering; conferred as Jusanmi (従三位, Junior Third Rank) and Kunsanto (勲三等, Order of Third Class); and served as dean of Architecture Departm ...

and Satachi Shichijiro, one of a group of renowned architectural students at the

Imperial College of Engineering The Imperial College of Engineering (工部大学校, ''Kōbudaigakkō'') was a Empire of Japan, Japanese institution of higher education that was founded during the Meiji era. The college was established under the auspices of the Ministry of P ...

, Tokyo, and a protege of British architect Josiah Conder. Dispatched to London in 1901 by the co-founder of

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

, Iwasaki Yanosuke, Sone returned to design and supervise construction of the Senshokaku, an elegant two story mansion built on a steep hillside overlooking the

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

shipyards. Sone's most famous work is the Old University Library Building (1912), still standing on the

Keio University , abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Rangaku, Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becomi ...

main campus at Mita. In collaboration with his architectural office partner, Chujō Seiichirō, Sone produced a building in Edwardian neo-gothic style in red brick with white stone dressings. The Old Library has become possibly the most recognized landmark of the university. This late Meiji period structure employed the latest technology of the time, including steel beams and reinforced concrete floor slabs as well as electrical circuits, gas and steam heat. In the period between the end of the Meiji era and the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Sone and Chujo also designed many other buildings for

including the Keio Corporate Administration Building and the First School Building, both still features of the Mita campus. Old-Marunouchi-Street-Tokyo-1920

Sone as superintendent, together with his former university instructor Josiah Conder as architect, was also responsible for many of the famed red-brick Mitsubishi buildings at

Marunouchi Marunouchi () is an area in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, located between Tokyo Station and the Kokyo, Imperial Palace. The name, meaning "inside the circle", derives from its location within the palace's outer moat. Marunouchi is the core ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. The Marunouchi district was designed as a showcase of earthquake resistant buildings and the Mitsubishi

zaibatsu is a Japanese language, Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertical integration, vertically integrated business conglomerate (company), conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over signifi ...

went on to construct over twenty such buildings on the site prior to the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923.

Buildings

* 1912

Old Library

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatsuzo, Sone 19th-century Japanese architects 1853 births 1937 deaths 20th-century Japanese architects