160308-0034 - Yusen Building

The Yusen Building (郵船ビルディング) in Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo .

The building was the head office of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha (日本郵船会社) shipping company, better known as NYK.

It was built by the George A. Fuller Company, a US construction company that operated a subsidiary in Japan between 1919 (Taisho 8) and 1926 (Showa 1) called Fuller Construction Company of the Orient.

Construction was completed on May 26, 1923 (Taisho 12), just three months before the Great Kanto Earthquake (Kanto Daishinsai) of September 1. Some outer walls were damaged, but the building survived.

In September 1945, US forces requisitioned the building for use as offices and officers’ billets during the Allied occupation of Japan. The building was returned to Nippon Yusen in January 1956 (Showa 31).

It was demolished in 1976 (Showa 51) to make place for the current NYK building.

From a series called Great Tokyo (大東京, Dai Tokyo).