The Prime Minister's Official Residence is the official workplace and residence of the

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of S ...

. It is commonly referred to as , , or simply . Located at 2-3-1 Nagata-chō,

Chiyoda-ku is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English.Profile ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

100–8968, it is diagonally adjacent to the

National Diet Building The is the building where both houses of the National Diet of Japan meet. It is located at Nagatachō 1-chome 7–1, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Sessions of the House of Representatives take place in the south wing and sessions of the House of Councillo ...

.The term ''Kantei'' is used as a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

for the office of the Prime Minister of Japan and for the Prime Minister's advisors and administration in general. In addition to being the principal office and residence of the Prime Minister, the building also serves as the principal office of the

Chief Cabinet Secretary The is a member of the cabinet and is the leader and chief executive of the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan. The Chief Cabinet Secretary coordinates the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch, and also serves as the government ...

and their Deputy, the location of

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

meetings, and is also the location of a national crisis management center.

History

First Residence

With the evolution of a national parliament after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

and the establishment of the post of "Prime Minister of Japan" in 1885, the need for an official prime ministerial residence was felt. On the encouragement of Prime Minister

Tanaka Giichi Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, politician, cabinet minister, and the Prime Minister of Japan from 1927 to 1929. Early life and military career Tanaka was born as the third son of a low-ranking ''samurai'' family in the se ...

, the first residence was completed on 18 March 1929. It incorporates architectural styles such as

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

and

expressionist architecture Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts that especially developed and dominated in Germany. Brick Expressionis ...

which became popular from the late Taishō period to the early

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

. It was heavily influenced by the architecture of

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

, in particular his design for the second Tokyo Imperial Hotel. It is a two-storied mansion designed by

Muraji Shimomoto (from Old Japanese: ''muraⁿzi'' < *''mura-nusi'' "village master") was an ancient

Japan

ese hereditary title denoting rank and ...

, of the

Ministry of the Treasury The (lit. the department of the great treasury) was a division of the eighth-century Japanese government of the Imperial Court in Kyoto, instituted in the Asuka period and formalized during the Heian period. The Ministry was replaced in the Mei ...

(now

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

). Prime Minister Tanaka is said to have exclaimed, "This is just like a café, isn't it?", upon seeing the building. By the 1990s, the old building was deemed cramped and insufficient. It underwent seismic retrofitting and internal renovation. The former Residence is now known as the , the Prime Minister's personal residential quarters.

Second Residence

A new five-storied residence was built in 2002 next to the old residence, with 2.5 times the floor space. Installed with solar panels and a rainwater storage system, the new building has been designed to minimize environmental impact. The new residence went into service in April 2002 In an April 2015 incident, a Phantom 2 drone carrying traces of radiation was found on the roof of the PM's office.Drone 'containing radiation' lands on roof of Japanese PM's office April 22, 2015

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

Retrieved May 4, 2015

Notes

External links

{{Commons category, Prime Minister's Official Residence (Japan)
Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet

Official YouTube Channel

* ttp://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/vt2/sub/index.html A virtual tour of the former Kantei (Prime Minister's Official Residence) Official residences in Japan Buildings and structures in Chiyoda, Tokyo Prime ministerial residences Government buildings completed in 1929 Houses completed in 1929 Government buildings completed in 2002 Houses completed in 2002 2002 establishments in Japan Prime Ministers of Japan