The was a large two-story building in
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 ...
, completed in 1883, which became a controversial symbol of Westernisation in the
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 ...
. Commissioned for the housing of foreign guests by the
Foreign Minister
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
Inoue Kaoru
Marquess Inoue Kaoru (井上 馨, January 16, 1836 – September 1, 1915) was a Japanese politician and a prominent member of the Meiji oligarchy during the Meiji period of the Empire of Japan. As one of the senior statesmen ('' Genrō'') in ...
, it was designed by British architect
Josiah Conder, a prominent
Western adviser working in Japan.
Although the ''Rokumeikans heyday was brief, it became famous for its parties and balls, which introduced many high-ranking Japanese to Western manners for the first time, and it is still a fixture in the cultural memory of Japan. It was, however, largely used for the accommodation of guests of the government, and for meetings between Japanese who had already lived abroad.
History
Background
The site of the Rokumeikan was in
Hibiya
is a colloquial name for a neighborhood of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda Ward in Tokyo. The area along Hibiya Street (Japan National Route 1, National Route 1) from Yūrakuchō to Uchisaiwaichō is generally considered Hibiya district. Administrati ...
, near the
Imperial Palace on land which had formerly been used as an arsenal for the
Satsuma domain
The , briefly known as the , was a Han system, domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.
The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of ...
. 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...
, in 1872 the land became the headquarters of the secretariat charged with preparations for the
Vienna Exhibition of 1873. Between July 1875 and October 1881 the land was occupied by the colossal “Yamashita Monnai Museum”, a combined zoological and
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...
, which was then moved to
Ueno
is a district in Taitō, Tokyo. The area extending from Ueno to Asakusa is part of the historical Shitamachi (literally "low city") district of Tokyo, which is often associated with working-class traditions and culture as well as their dist ...
to make way for the new building and its grounds.
Foreign visitors had previously been housed in the
Enryōkan, a building originally erected by the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.
The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
as part of a training school for naval cadets. Despite attempts at modernization, the building was old and deemed no longer considered satisfactory for housing foreign dignitaries.
Construction

Conder received a commission to design a new structure
in 1880, and building work started in 1881. Conder borrowed from the
French Renaissance
The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...
style, and used a
Mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...
in his design, which also incorporated an arched portico with columns. However, Conder's wish to put Japanese elements in the design was overruled, although he claimed to have included "pseudo-Saracenic" features. Only the garden, which used pine trees, stone lanterns and ponds, was in the Japanese style.
Difficulties were encountered in construction which caused the original budget of 100,000
yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro.
T ...
to expand to 180,000 yen before construction was completed. In contrast, the
Foreign Ministry
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...
building cost only 40,000 yen to construct. The building was officially opened on 28 November 1883 with a gala to which 1200 guests were invited, including
nobles
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
, bureaucrats and foreign diplomats, presided over by Inoue and his wife Takeko.
[Keene, Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852-1912, pp 391-395. ]
The Rokumeikan era
Inoue commissioned the structure as a five-star hotel for European and American diplomats and travelers.
He hoped that they would be more inclined to regard Japan as an equal in terms of “civilization” in European minds, which would facilitate renegotiation of the
Unequal Treaties
The unequal treaties were a series of agreements made between Asian countries—most notably Qing China, Tokugawa Japan and Joseon Korea—and Western countries—most notably the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Unit ...
, abolition of
extraterritoriality
In international law, extraterritoriality or exterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations.
Historically, this primarily applied to individuals, as jurisdict ...
and would hasten Japan's entry as an equal in the ranks of the imperial powers.

The Rokumeikan served elaborate banquets, with menus written in
French. In the ballroom, Japanese gentlemen in
evening dress imported from tailors in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
danced the
waltz
The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...
,
polka
Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...
,
quadrille
The quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies. The quadrille consists of a chain of four to six ''Contra dance, contredanses''. Latterly the quadrille was frequently danced to a medley of ope ...
, and
mazurka
The Mazurka ( Polish: ''mazurek'') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character defined mostly by the prominent mazur's "strong accents unsystematically placed on the seco ...
with Japanese ladies dressed in the latest
Parisian fashions to the latest European songs played by an Army or Navy band. Foreign residents of Tokyo were hired as dancing tutors.
The results were mixed. Although the highly conspicuous Western building was praised by some visitors, its concept was deplored by many others as tasteless imitation.
Pierre Loti
Pierre Loti (; pseudonym of Louis Marie-Julien Viaud ; 14 January 1850 – 10 June 1923) was a French naval officer and novelist, known for his exotic novels and short stories.This article is derived largely from the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Ele ...
, who arrived in Japan in 1886, compared the building (in ''Japoneries d'Automne,'' 1889), to a mediocre casino in a French spa town, and the European-style ball to a “monkey show”. Likewise, the noted French artist
Georges Ferdinand Bigot published a
cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...
depicting a stylishly dressed Japanese man and woman admiring themselves in a mirror, but the reflection was that of a pair of monkeys.
Japanese conservatives were outraged by what they perceived to be the degeneration of traditional morals, especially by the close proximity between men and women during dances, linked rising taxes with the supposed dissipation and self-indulgence of the government. Reports and gossip of scandalous behavior by high-ranking officials (although the most notorious took place at private residences, not at the Rokumeikan), added to the controversy.
The
Autonomy and People's Rights Movement criticized the Rokumeikan as expensive, tax-funded deference to Europeans and Americans.
The failure of "Rokumeikan diplomacy" to achieve its desired goal of treaties revised in Japan's favor led eventually to the discrediting of Inoue, who resigned in 1887.
Later years
In 1890, the
Imperial Hotel opened near the Rokumeikan (again with the involvement of Inoue), and was on a grander scale. The opening of the hotel eliminated the need for the Rokumeikan as a residence for foreign visitors. The banquets and balls continued, and the nativist reaction did not slow the construction of Western-style buildings in Tokyo, but with the increasing westernization of Japan, a growing sense of cultural nationalism, and the eventual elimination of the Unequal Treaties in 1899, the Rokumeikan steadily diminished in importance.
[Lebra, Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese, pp189]
The Rokumeikan building was sold in 1890, to an association for ''
kazoku
The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. It was formed by merging the feudal lords (''Daimyo, daimyō'') and court nobles (''kuge'') into one system modelled after the British peerage. Distin ...
'' peerage of Japan.
The building was severely damaged in the
1894 Tokyo earthquake
The occurred in Tokyo, Japan at 14:04 PM on June 20. It affected downtown Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa prefecture, especially the cities of Kawasaki and Yokohama.
The earthquake's epicenter was in Tokyo Bay, with a magnitude of 6.6 on the Ric ...
, the high cost of repairs contributing to a decline in use of the building. 1897, Conder was called in to repair the building and make additional alterations. It was used by the Peers' Club (''
Kazoku Kaikan'') for the next few decades.
The building was demolished in 1941.
The destruction of the building disturbed the architect
Taniguchi Yoshirō and eventually led him to create the ''
Meiji Mura'' for the preservation of Meiji period buildings.
Name
The name “Rokumeikan” comes from a Chinese classic, the ''
Shi Jing
The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...
'' ("Book of Songs"), and refers to the benefits of hospitality. The 161st ode is entitled ''Lù Míng'', 鹿鳴, which is read in Japanese as ''rokumei''. It was chosen by , the first husband of Inoue's wife Takeko.
The name is often translated as "Deer Cry Pavilion", and in older books the translation "Hall of the Baying Stag" is given.
Once purchased by The Peer's Club (group), the building was renamed "The Peer's Club", but also went by the names ''Nobles' Club'' and ''Peerage Club''.
Allusions in literature
The Rokumeikan is frequently mentioned in Japanese literature, for example
*''
Chijin no ai'' ("Naomi", 1924), a novel by
Tanizaki Jun'ichirō
*''Butokai'' ("The Ball", 1920), a short story by
Akutagawa Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (written: 芥川) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*, Japanese poet and writer
*, Japanese composer and conductor, son of Akutagawa Ryunosuke
*, Japanese painter
* David Akutagawa (1937–2008), Japanese-Can ...
, retelling Loti's account
*''
Rokumeikan
The was a large two-story building in Tokyo, completed in 1883, which became a controversial symbol of Westernisation in the Meiji period. Commissioned for the housing of foreign guests by the Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru, it was designed by ...
'' (1956), a play by
Mishima Yukio, and based on it
**''Rokumeikan'' (1986), a film
**''Rokumeikan'' (2008), a television special starring
Masakazu Tamura and
Hitomi Kuroki
Hitomi Kuroki (Japanese: ; Katakana: ''Kuroki Hitomi''; born October 5, 1960, in Kurogi-Machi, Yame District, Fukuoka, Japan) is a Japanese actress and film director. Her birth name is Shoko Ichiji ( ''Ichiji Shōko'') née Egami ( ''Egami Shō ...
*''
Lady Snowblood'', a manga written by
Kazuo Koike
was a prolific Japanese manga writer ( gensakusha), novelist, screenwriter, lyricist and entrepreneur. He is best known for his violent, artful ''seinen'' manga, notably ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' (with Goseki Kojima, 1970–6), '' Lady Snowblood'' ...
(chapter 5 of the first volume: "Rokumeikan Murder Panorama")
*''
Aoi Hana
is a Japanese yuri manga series written and illustrated by Takako Shimura. It was serialized between November 2004 and July 2013 in Ohta Publishing's manga magazine '' Manga Erotics F'', with its chapters collected in eight ''tankōbon'' volu ...
'', a manga written by
Takako Shimura
is a Japanese manga artist. She is primarily known for her manga works which feature LGBT (especially lesbian and transgender) topics.
Career
Her best known and selling series are '' Aoi Hana'' and ''Wandering Son''. ''Aoi Hana'' was adapted ...
who the characters act out the play ''
Rokumeikan
The was a large two-story building in Tokyo, completed in 1883, which became a controversial symbol of Westernisation in the Meiji period. Commissioned for the housing of foreign guests by the Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru, it was designed by ...
''
The Roumeikan is mentioned in The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley.
Location
The site of the Rokumeikan is in
Chiyoda-ku
, known as Chiyoda City in English,
." ''City of Chiyoda''. Retrieved on December 28, 2008. is a S ...
,
Uchisaiwaichō
is a district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, at the south-east corner of the ward bordering with Chūō and Minato.
Uchisaiwaichō Station on the Toei Mita Line is located in the area. Parts of the Hibiya Station and Shimbashi Station are also located ...
1-chome. There is a plaque in front of the NBF Hibiya Building (formerly the
Yamato Life Insurance Company).
References
* Finn, Dallas. "Reassessing the Rokumeikan." From ''Challenging past and present: the metamorphosis of nineteenth-century Japanese art'', edited by Ellen P. Conant. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006.
* Watanabe Toshio. "Josiah Conder's ''Rokumeikan'': architecture and national representation in Meiji Japan." ''Art Journal'', 22 September 1996.
* Tomita Hitoshi. ''Rokumeikan: Giseiyoka no sekai'' ("Deer Cry Pavilion: The world of pseudo-Westernization") Tokyo: Hakusuisha, 1984.
* Mehl, Margaret. "Dancing at the Rokumeikan: a new role for women?" From ''Japanese women emerging from subservience, 1868-1945'', edited by Hiroko Tomida and Gordon Daniels. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental, 2005.
*
*
*
*
*
*Felix Rösch (2025). Sociability, Emotions, and Encounters with the Uncommon Other: World-Making at the Rokumeikan, ''International Political Sociology'' 19 (2): olaf009,
https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/olaf009
Notes
External links
* National Diet Library website
Before Rokumeikan
{{Coord, 35.671804, 139.757792, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:JP_scale:10000
Defunct hotels in Japan
French Renaissance Revival architecture
Demolished buildings and structures in Tokyo
Former buildings and structures in Japan
Buildings and structures in Chiyoda, Tokyo
Buildings of the Meiji era
Residential buildings completed in 1883
Buildings and structures demolished in 1941