Editors' Selection
Japanese buildings worth visiting now, selected by our editors for their architectural-historical significance, state of preservation and accessibility.
* This is not a ranking based on page views or other traffic data. A popularity ranking will be published once sufficient data has been collected.
- Editors' Selection No.1
Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building
東京駅丸の内駅舎
Red brick banded with white stone. A Taishō-era station, restored as the gateway to the capital.
- Location
- Tokyo
- Year
- 1914
- Architect
- Kingo Tatsuno, Manji Kasai
- Editors' Selection No.2
Yoyogi National Gymnasium
国立代々木競技場
The curves of 1964, drawn by a suspended roof. A pinnacle of postwar Japanese architecture.
- Location
- Tokyo
- Year
- 1964
- Architect
- Kenzo Tange
- Editors' Selection No.3
Tokyo International Forum
東京国際フォーラム
A vast glass hall shaped like a ship's keel. An urban lobby open to Marunouchi.
- Location
- Tokyo
- Year
- 1996
- Architect
- Rafael Viñoly
- Editors' Selection No.4
Himeji Castle
姫路城
A cluster of white-plastered keeps, like a white heron spreading its wings. Japan's first World Heritage Site.
- Location
- Hyōgo Prefecture
- Year
- 1609
- Editors' Selection No.5
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
金沢21世紀美術館
A circle with no front or back. A museum open to the city, like a park.
- Location
- Ishikawa Prefecture
- Year
- 2004
- Architect
- SANAA (Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa)
- Editors' Selection No.6
Sendai Mediatheque
せんだいメディアテーク
Wavering tubes and thin plates. A transparent box that rewrote the conventions of architecture.
- Location
- Miyagi Prefecture
- Year
- 2001
- Architect
- Toyo Ito
- Editors' Selection No.7
Kyoto Station Building
京都駅ビル
A concourse that opens like a valley. A modern great hall at the gateway to the ancient capital.
- Location
- Kyoto Prefecture
- Year
- 1997
- Architect
- Hiroshi Hara
- Editors' Selection No.8
Tokyo Skytree
東京スカイツリー
634 m. The world's tallest freestanding broadcasting tower, informed by traditional Japanese techniques.
- Location
- Tokyo
- Year
- 2012
- Architect
- Nikken Sekkei
- Editors' Selection No.9
The National Museum of Western Art
国立西洋美術館
The only building Le Corbusier left in Japan.
- Location
- Tokyo
- Year
- 1959
- Architect
- Le Corbusier (detailed design: Kunio Maekawa, Junzō Sakakura, Takamasa Yoshizaka)
- Editors' Selection No.10
Byōdō-in Phoenix Hall
平等院鳳凰堂
The Pure Land appearing across the pond. A Heian Amida hall that has lived a thousand years.
- Location
- Kyoto Prefecture
- Year
- 1053