Art Deco architecture in Japan is pretty scarce. You’d have to be a little crazy to visit the country just to hunt for Art Deco buildings–as I do.
Having established the two Art Deco must-sees in Tokyo (the Asaka Mansion/Teien Art Museum and the Sapporo Lion beer hall) which are both strictly Art Deco and very un-streamlined, are there examples of Streamline Moderne architecture in Japan? The short answer is yes, although not many and mostly outside of Tokyo. But you have to start somewhere, so I give you Tokyo’s Takanawa Fire Station.
There isn’t a lot to say about the station itself (it was built in 1933 and it survived WW II obviously) but if you’d like to visit, a few tips. First, there are two Takanawa Fire Stations. If you ask for directions or aren’t careful with Google Map, you will end up at the modern station which is nowhere near the old place. Second, nobody seems to know where the old station is. You’re on your own. Even a photo won’t help. Third, and most interestingly, while the old Takanawa Fire Station is a museum (spoiler alert) it is also a fully operational firehouse, which I did not know.
Obscure as a tourist attraction, but at a very busy intersection!
A very fit guy who looked more like a fireman than a tour guide invited me in for a tour. You go up a sprial stair case to a large, circular room that would have had an unobstructed 360 degree view in 1933. There is a small museum with photos, uniforms from different eras and a good luck token given by a local high school.
The upstairs room, once used to search for fires and now a musuem. I didn’t get much time to photograph, so this is from the brochure they give you.
Uniforms throughout the years.
An original lamp. Still works.
This was a gift from a local high school, for good luck. I’m not sure what good luck pieces this large are called.
The station’s 1941 Nissan fire truck. This one’s no longer used but it’s restored and on display.
I would have taken more photos but my guide hustled me along. Unusual to be rushed by a Japanese host but I soon learned why. We were downstairs, admiring the restored 1941 Nissan fire truck when an alarm sounded and my guide excused himself and took off. Only then did I realize the old fire station is still a fire station.
As I left, still guessing what was going on, I heard a siren, the garage door opened and off they went.
About the golf tee on the roof. What does it do? Nothing, it turns out. Old photos show there was once an antenna of some sort but the current thing is a 1984 creation by Professor Meano of Tokyo University of the Arts.
Honestly, if you’re a first time visitor or on a tight schedule, the Minato-ku area where the station is located wouldn’t be high on my list. But if you do find yourself in the area, by all means check out the station and the MInato City Local History Museum. The Minato Museum has the same quasi-Deco details as Tokyo University–not surprising as the architect for both was Yoshikazu Uchida. Adjacent to the museum is a Tokyo University hospital, also designed by Uchida.
A hospital, desinged by Yoshikazu Uchida. (MInato, Tokyo)