Vol. 5 TODA CORPORATION

2016.09.24

Creating new spaces where art and culture can blossom in Kyobashi, which has a history dating back 118 years

Toda Corporation, which constructed numerous famous buildings of the Showa era (1926–1989) —including Waseda University’s Okuma Auditorium, Gakushikaikan in Kanda, the former Prince Asaka Residence in Meguro, and the Yokohama Customs Office Building—established its base in Kyobashi 118 years ago.

 

Born in Kyoto, the company’s founder and inaugural president, Rihei Toda, trained as a carpenter specializing in shrine and temple construction before coming to Tokyo in 1881 and establishing a construction contract business called Toda-kata in Akasaka. Although he temporarily moved away from Tokyo, Toda returned in 1898 and established his office-cum-residence in the Oga-cho District of Kyobashi Ward, very close to the site of the company’s current head office building.

 

Ten years later, the company’s name was changed to Toda-gumi, and construction of its main office in Kyobashi 1-chome, where the current head office is located, was completed in 1929. Around this time, the company began opening branch offices in Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, and other locations around the country, growing to become a general construction company with a nationwide reach. Toda-gumi was reorganized as Toda-Gumi Co., Ltd., in 1936.

  • The main office of Toda-gumi, which was completed in 1929 in a corner of Kyobashi 1-chome, near where the current head office building stands. This modern Western-style building was designed and built by Toda-gumi.

  • The company’s current nine-story head office building. The building was scheduled for demolition in 2019, and the Nagasaka Corporation Building that stood next door has already been demolished.

Newly established in 1956, Toda Corporation’s Civil Engineering Department undertook numerous large-scale construction projects during Japan’s rapid growth period, including the Toei Subway and Shuto Expressway. The old building for the current head office was constructed in 1961, and the new building was completed five years later in 1966. In between those events, in 1963, the company’s name was changed to Toda Corporation.

 

Today, Toda Corporation is endeavoring to carve out a new history via a new development project in the Kyobashi 1-chome East District that is being launched this year. Alongside the rebuilding of the Toda Corporation Head Office Building and neighboring Nagasaka Sangyo Kyobashi Building, the entire block is being redeveloped with the aim of creating a base for arts and culture that is open to the community near Tokyo Station. In addition to an art museum, this redevelopment block will include creativity support facilities for young artists. In front of the Toda Corporation Head Office Building there is to be an Art Square (tentative name), an open space that becomes the stage for art- and culture-related events as well as various community activities.

 

The new Nagasaka Corporation Building is scheduled for completion in FY 2019 and the new Toda Corporation Building in FY 2023. Keep your eyes on the Kyobashi 1-chome East District as it is reborn as a base for art and culture.

  • Image of the Kyobashi 1-chome East District Development Project, which is scheduled for completion in FY 2023. On the right is the new 28-story (above ground) Toda Corporation Building. The new Nagasaka Sangyo Kyobashi Building is on the left.

  • Held in June each year, the Sanno Festival was one of Edo’s three major festivals. Every two years, members of the Kyobashi 1-chome Neighborhood Association carry portable shrines around the area as part of the annual festival, and it is customary for Toda Corporation employees to also act as shrine bearers on a volunteer basis, with some 100 people joining in each time.

Toda Corporation
Address: 1-7-1 Kyobashi, Chuo City
TEL: +81 (0)3-3535-1354
Access: A five-minute walk from JR Tokyo Station; a two-minute walk from Kyobashi Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Subway Line (Exit 6)
Website: http://www.toda.co.jp

 

TEXT: Rie Inoue

Reprinted from Tokyojin Extra Issue July 2016