Parliament Building (Tokyo)
| Kokkai-gijidō | |
|---|---|
 The central tower of the parliament building |
|
| Data | |
| place | Tokyo |
| builder | Ministry of Finance |
| Construction year | 1920-1936 |
| height | 65.45 m |
| Floor space | 13,356 m² |
| Coordinates | 35 ° 40 ′ 33.2 " N , 139 ° 44 ′ 41.9" E |
| particularities | |
| Seat of the Japanese National Assembly | |
The Kokkai-gijidō ( Japanese. 国会 議事堂 ) is the national parliament building of Japan and is located in the district of Chiyoda in the central Tokyo district of Nagatachō . It houses the plenary halls of both chambers of the national parliament , i.e. the Shūgiin and the Sangiin . It was built in 1936 as Teikoku-gikai-gijidō ( 帝国 議会 議事堂 , contemporary spelling 帝國 議會 議事堂 ; German Reichstag building ). The Reichstag had previously met in various temporary buildings. At the time of its completion, the parliament building was also the tallest building in Japan at 65 m until it was replaced by the "Hotel New Ōtani" in 1964.
history
After the Meiji oligarchy had promised to create a parliament in 1881, the first plans for a Reichstag building arose in the mid-1880s. The architects Hermann Ende and Wilhelm Böckmann invited from the German Reich , who also designed other government buildings, presented plans for a parliament building. In 1887, the cabinet decided the location of the building in Nagatachō 1-chōme in what was then the Kōjimachi district . However, the government rejected the overly expensive plans for a concentrated government district, and the construction of a large Reichstag building was postponed. To the south-east in what was then Uchisaiwaichō (today Kasumigaseki ), a first provisional parliament building was built, in which the first Reichstag met in November 1890. The timber structure burned down on January 20, 1891, presumably as a result of a short circuit. The Shūgiin then met in the Tōkyō Jogakkan ( 東京 女 学 館 "Women's School Tokyo"), the Kizokuin first moved to the former Rokumeikan , which had served as the Kazoku Kaikan, a kind of secretariat for the hereditary nobility , since 1890, but it proved too small , then to the Imperial Hotel .
In October 1891 a second provisional Reichstag building was completed, which outwardly resembled the first in its basic structure, but showed some improvements, including fire protection and acoustics. On September 18, 1925, a fire broke out during maintenance work, and the wooden Reichstag burned down for the second time. During the First Sino-Japanese War , the Reichstag was convened in the fall of 1894 for the 7th session in Hiroshima , where the joint headquarters of the army and navy had been set up in case of war . In October 1894, a wooden, extraordinary provisional parliament building was erected there.
In December 1925 the third temporary wooden structure was ready, construction was accelerated and was completed within 80 days. The Reichstag met there until the current building was completed. The planning for this had already been resumed a few years earlier: In 1918 the Ministry of Finance had set up its own department for construction and laid down the essential requirements. The building was to be 3-story, 3,600 tsubo , with the facade facing east, and the building was to be built with mainly domestically produced material. The Kizokuin was to be housed in the left wing and the Shūgiin in the right wing. The architectural style was not specified, but a "Parliament appropriate, majestic appearance" ( 「議院 ト シ テ 相当 ノ 偉 容」 Giin to shite sōtō no iyō ) have. In addition, a rough room layout was given. With these specifications a public competition for the exterior design was announced, which was decided in two phases in February and September 1919. The winning designs were only used as a guide, the final planning was carried out by the new department in the Ministry of Finance. Based on the winning design by Watanabe Fukuzō ( 渡 辺 福 三 ), which has similarities with the Ende Böckmann design, the department opted for a more neutral design without the dome proposed by Watanabe, which was replaced by a pyramid roof. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on January 30, 1920 in the presence of Prime Minister Hara Takashi . The inauguration had to be postponed because of the attempted coup on February 26, 1936 and finally took place on November 7, 1936 with around 2,800 invited guests such as Prime Minister Hirota Kōki or Kizokuin President Konoe Fumimaro . Comprehensive renovation work took place for the first time since its completion in 2008 and 2009, during which, among other things, the outer facade was repainted.
architecture
The main wing of the building complex is formed by the entrance hall with the central tower and the imperial relaxation room ( 御 休 所 Gokyūshō ). In addition, there are two side wings on both sides that run parallel to the main wing, the right wing being exclusively available to the upper house , while the lower house is located in the left . The side wings are connected to the main wing by two corridors each .
Entrance hall
The entrance hall is located under the central tower and is 32.62 m high. It can be reached both through the corridors from the side wings and through the 3.94 m high and 1.3 t heavy main entrance door designed by the Tokyo University of the Arts . However, this is only used on special occasions, e.g. B. at the first parliamentary session after an election to the upper or lower house or when the emperor or other heads of state enter the building. For this reason it is also called "the door that does not open" ( あ か ず の 扉 Akazu no tobira ).
In addition, the hall is known for its statues of the fathers of the Meiji constitution Itagaki Taisuke , Ōkuma Shigenobu and Itō Hirobumi , which are each placed in the corners of the hall. In the fourth corner there is an empty plinth, about the meaning of which there are several theories. For example, it is assumed that one could not agree on a personality or that one wanted to symbolize the perpetual incompleteness of politics. Others claim that they wanted to get politicians to outdo the three depicted people or to prevent the statue from standing with its back to the imperial palace.
The ceiling is made of stained glass and the four seasons are represented by oil paintings on each wall. The Yoshino Mountains symbolize spring, Lake Towada summer, Nikko National Park autumn and the Japanese Alps winter. The paintings were not made by famous artists, but by art students. In addition, there is the main staircase in the hall that extends from the second to the Gokyūshō on the sixth floor.
Central tower
At the time of its completion, the 65.45 m high central tower was almost five meters higher than the Mitsukoshi main branch, making it the tallest building in Japan. In the pyramid roof there is a hall from which a spiral staircase leads to a 7 m² viewing platform on the top floor of the tower, which was supposed to have provided a wide view of Tokyo in the past. Today neither the hall nor the viewing platform is accessible to members of parliament or visitors.
A branch of the National Parliamentary Library is located on the fourth floor and can be used by any member of the parliament. There is no toilet on this floor as it would be higher than the Emperor's.
Imperial relaxation room
The Gokyūshō was built to give the emperor a chance to rest during his visits to parliament. It is located at the end of the main staircase and can therefore be reached from the entrance hall. The emperor's table was designed to be L-shaped to provide the emperor with a shelf for his hat. This is also due to the fact that the Kaiser was the commander-in-chief of the armed forces in the German Empire and therefore wore a uniform with a hat on official occasions. Talks between the presidents and vice-presidents of the two chambers and the emperor will also take place in the relaxation room.
Around ten percent of the construction costs of the parliament building were spent on the relaxation room, the building materials and decorations of which are of the highest quality and which differ significantly from those of other rooms. So the interior z. B. from LABEL FOR with Japanese lacquer cypress -Holz made while the exterior facade of a special stone from Anan ( 不如帰 Fujoki exists). At the time of completion, the Fuji was said to have been visible from this room .
Plenary halls
The two plenary halls are housed in the side wings belonging to the respective chamber and extend from the second to the third floor. The ceilings are made of painted glass and let sunlight through, which is why the ceiling lights are only used during plenary meetings during the day. According to Western models, the seating arrangement is semicircular.
The presidium sits in the middle behind the lectern and below it are the stenographers . In addition to the presidium, there are two rows of seats on either side, the front row being reserved for cabinet members and the back row for administrative staff. The Prime Minister always sits closest to the President of the Chamber.
The allocation of seats is determined by the President at the beginning of each session and can also be changed by the President during a session. It is customary in the House of Commons to position the parliamentary groups according to size from right to left from the point of view of the Presidium. In contrast, the largest parliamentary groups in the House of Lords sit in the middle and the smaller ones on the edge. Within the parliamentary groups, MEPs who have so far been (re) elected the least number of times will be moved up front, so that if they move into parliament again, they will likely move down further. Each seat has a number and a name tag that is put up when the MP is present.
According to the tradition from the times of the Reichstag to invite the emperor to the House of Lords at the opening of a session, he still visits the House of Lords at the beginning of each period and gives an opening speech from his throne. This is located on an elevation behind the presidium, which is why the seat of the president is removed when the emperor visits.
The House of Lords plenary hall has 460 seats, although the House of Lords only has 242 members. This fact is related to the fact that at the opening ceremony the members of the lower house also sit in the upper house hall, with still not enough seats available for all 475 lower house members, which is why some of them standing in the aisles and other empty areas of the hall Attend ceremony.
Conference rooms
In the parliament building there are several conference rooms for the committees of the chambers ( 委員 室 iin-shitsu for Shūgiin, 委員会 室 iinkai-shitsu for Sangiin). The best known is conference room 1, as this is where the budget committee and various special committees meet and debates between the parties represented in parliament take place. Witnesses are also questioned here, mostly under oath, on current issues.
The numbered rooms used by factions in both chambers are called hikae-shitsu ( 控 [え] 室 , literally “waiting room” or more generally “anteroom”). Historically, there were factions that were not affiliated to a party and named themselves only with the number of the meeting room.
Visitor stands
There are several visitor stands in both halls, which can be reached from the third floor of the respective side wing. Each stand is designed for a specific type of visitor, so there are stands for diplomats, MPs from the other chamber, government officials, the general public and journalists. In the upper house there are additional stands for members of the imperial house . The grandstands for the general public are primarily intended for invited guests of MPs, with the remaining seats also being given to visitors without a direct connection to the MPs.
Associated facilities
Front gardens
In front of the entrance to the parliament building there is an avenue, to the right of which there is a Japanese garden and to the left of which there is a western-style garden (as seen from the parliament building), which together as Kokkai-zentei ( 国会 前庭 ; roughly “front garden at the parliament “). In the Japanese garden there is the Tokyo Peil and the Kensei-kinenkan ( 憲政 記念 館 ; something like "Institution for the Commemoration of Constitutional Politics"), which offers exhibitions on the parliamentary system of government in Japan.
Place in front of the main entrance
Between the main entrance and the entrance is a square called Genkan-ZENTEI ( 玄関前庭 about "front yard at the entrance") comprising an avenue and a garden, are in the since 1970 47 trees from each one of the 47 prefectures represents . In addition, two fountains were built on the square in 1990 to mark the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Reichstag.
Other facilities
There are several conference buildings for the upper and lower houses around the parliament building. In addition, the press conference building for Kisha Clubs is located south of Parliament , the National Parliament Library to the north and the Kantei to the south-west .
Trivia
- With the exception of the National Parliament Library and the Kantei, all associated buildings can be reached from the Parliament building through underground passages.
- MPs are obliged to wear a suit with the official MP pin when entering the parliament building . This was the undoing of the then Prime Minister Fukuda Takeo when he forgot to wear his pin and was consequently prevented from entering the building by security personnel. Fukuda then borrowed the needle from Yoshirō Mori , who happened to be nearby.
- The parliament building was not lit from the outside at night between 2011 and 2014 due to the energy-saving measures resulting from the Tōhoku earthquake in 2011 .
- Both chambers operate souvenir shops in their buildings that specialize in Miyage related to Japanese politics and especially politicians. For example, it is possible there to buy sweets and everyday objects with the faces of leading politicians.
See also
Web links
- Sangiin : information on Parliament Building (English)
- Shugiin : information on Parliament Building (English)
- National Diet Library , Modern Japan in archives: Imperial Diet (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Sketch of the Ende Böckmann draft
- ^ Photo of the third provisional Reichstag building
- ↑ Prescribed room layout
- ↑ 国会 議事堂 、 ラ イ ト ア ッ プ 再 開 へ . In: Sankei Shimbun . January 10, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2017 (Japanese).
