Jeepney Press/Lala Lopez de Leon

Walk with me: The Road to Mitsubishi Ichigokan

By Lala Lopez de Leon

July 16, 2022

The Marunouchi area is probably the most cosmopolitan office and shopping district in Tokyo, or Japan for that matter, and I have likened it to our Makati central business district.

When the opportunity to spend a Saturday afternoon at a museum in Marunouchi came along, I was all smiles imagining the airy feeling that I get every time I traverse those wide streets branching out of Tokyo Station. This area exudes charm, history, romance, sophistication. There’s just no other place like it in Japan.

The way to Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum must be easy…or, so I thought! Its being in the compound of the Marunouchi Brick Square got me thinking it should be really quick to find it. There’s a pocket park with a rose garden, and it’s a favorite spot for coffee or gelato break for me and my friends!

But I got tricked again…as it often happens for so many of the unique spots that seem to have been made elusive on purpose.

There it is, at one end of the oh so familiar Marunouchi Brick Square, hidden by lush greenery, right behind the rose bushes!

Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum As its name suggests, this was Mitsubishi’s first Western-style office building in Marunouchi, designed in 1894 by an English architect. It used to house the Mitsubishi Group’s banking department. It was torn down in 1968 but reconstructed/ reproduced as faithfully as possible, on the same lot some 40 years later, reusing some of the original building’s interior components, such as the handrails for the staircases.

There’s so much joy in discovering a new gem! A new urban, weekend destination! Next time, I’ve got to try their in-house café, the original location of the banking department Café 1894!

Today’s accomplishment, other than discovering this charming place: 12,265 steps on the pedometer. Bravo!

Lala Lopez de Leon

Jeepney Press