Yaesu Building (1928) [A masterpiece by Akira Fujimura, the key figure in inheriting the DNA]

When we were architectural design and construction supervision the Marunouchi Building, our design organization was at its peak since the company was founded, but when the Maru Building was completed, many engineers, including the chief engineer Sakurai Kotaro, left the company. After that, it was Fujimura Akira who was entrusted with the role of top engineer. Fujimura joined the company in 1911 (Meiji 44) before Sakurai and Yamashita Juro, became chief engineer in 1932 (Showa 7), and after the establishment of Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. in 1939 (Showa 14), he served as president for a year and a half from December 1946 (Showa 21), and remained as an advisor until 1963 (Showa 38). In other words, he experienced two peak periods: the construction of the Maru Building and the Marunouchi Remodeling Plan during the high economic growth period. I believe that Fujimura Akira is the person who inherited the DNA from the prewar Mitsubishi Limited Partnership Company Estate Department (Division) to the postwar Mitsubishi Jisho Design Department.
Fujimura was in charge of the Mitsubishi Bank Head Office and Maru Building under Sakurai, and it was his job to restore the Maru Building after the earthquake, but his most famous work was the Yaesu Building built in 1928 (Showa 3). It was built in the style of the final period of classical architecture using reinforced concrete, and its design was linked to the Art Deco Maru Building. It was based on a three-story structure, with heavy Komatsu stone piled on the base, and the middle part had a light and repeated pattern of small windows bordered with green tiles, and the top was decorated with tiles and imitation stone. A tower was symbolically placed on the northeast corner. It has now been replaced by the Marunouchi Park Building, and traces of the Yaesu Building can be seen in the tower and part of the base, but in fact there is a building that looks just like it in Osaka. It is the Osaka Agriculture and Forestry Hall (formerly the Osaka branch of Mitsubishi Corporation) in Minamisenba, which was completed in 1930 (Showa 5), just two years after the Yaesu Building, and was of course designed by Akira Fujimura. You can rediscover the now-defunct Yaesu Building through the structure of the base, middle and cornice, the small windows framed with green tiles, the proportions of the sash partitions, the connections of the curved walls with the wall steps, the atmosphere of the entrance hall, the orange waist tiles in the corridor, the design of the wooden handrails on the stairs, and more. This retro building is also home to stylish shops and is well-used. If you are ever in Osaka, please be sure to visit.