For over a decade Tokyo Fox has focused on the modern architecture of Tokyo with a long-running ten part series featuring over 100 interesting-looking buildings. During that time I have also taken photos of some unique structures outside of the capital city but had no place to showcase them until now. This is Volume 2 which includes some weird and wonderful buildings in the Tōhoku and Tochigi regions.

1. Sagae City Office, 1-9-45 Chuo, Sagae, Yamagata – Completed in 1967, this “unstable” government building in Yamagata was designed by multi-award winning architect Kisho Kurokawa who was responsible for a few dozen architectural wonders. High-strength steel suspends the entire floor of City Hall from roof trusses. More details here

2. Osaki Civic Hall, 5-5-1 Furukawakitamachi, Osaki, Miyagi – Triangular pillars at the four corners of this community facility suspend the reinforced concrete roof. The structure was completed in 1966 and interestingly slopes towards the centre rather than the outside.  More details here

3. Sazae-do Temple, Bentenshita 1404, Itsukimachi Oaza Yahata, Aizu-wakamatsu, Fukushima – This 16.6 metre high, three-storey, hexagon shaped Buddhist structure is far from modern as it was built in 1796 but it is still deserving of inclusion in this list due to its uniqueness. It is the world’s only wooden building remaining from the mid-Edo Period. It’s quite rare as two ramps come up from both the front and rear entrances and are united via a little bridge at the top having made two revolutions. More details here

4. Pyramid Onsen, 93-3 Niwatoko, Nasushiobara, Tochigi – The world’s first pyramid hot spring with the addition of the Sphinx outside! Unlike the ones in Egypt, this pyramid is surrounded by forest! The golden coloured (or is it bright ochre?) pyramid building is certainly a quirky hotel, and offers indoor and outdoor soaking pools. More details here

5. Mōka Station, Daimachi 2474-1 Mōka, Tochigi – The station was built in 1997 to imitate a steam locomotive. It is a large 4-storey building and a little overwhelming for such a small city in the heart of a strawberry-producing region. The building includes an observation deck on the fourth floor and a local information centre on the ground floor. More details here

Click here to read ‘Modern Architecture Outside of Tokyo #1 – Hokkaido & Tōhoku’

Click on the following links to see previous Tokyo Modern Architecture posts…

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