Trivia
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Minato City Designated Cultural Asset Building old Kyodo-kaikan
Over its history, this building has had three different names: Shibaura Kenban, Kyodo Kaikan, and The Minato City Center for Traditional Culture, by which it is known today. The building was first constructed as a “kenban” that served as the office of the union for businesses in the Shibaura red-light district. During World War Two, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government bought the building. After the war, the building was renamed the Kyodo Kaikan by the facility manager and it became a lodging facility for people working at the Port of Tokyo. Moreover, the building was used by people in the community for meetings and as a place for practicing traditional Japanese dance, and the Kyodo Kaikan became widely known as a result. The building was subsequently renovated and became the Minato City Center for Traditional Culture. In recognition of the building’s history and architectural value, it was designated as a cultural asset by Minato City in 2009.
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Builders of the kenban 1:
Rikizo Hosokawa, union headRikizo Hosokawa was born in 1889 in Ishikawa Prefecture. After moving to Tokyo, he worked at a bathhouse in the Kanda district. He then started his own successful real estate business.
As gaining rights to manage the land after Shibaura was reclaimed, in 1928, he opened the ryotei Gajoen. In 1931, he opened a branch in Meguro, and later built a Meguro Gajoen, which was later called Shangri La in the Showa period.
It is said that the construction costs for Shibaura kenban were funded almost entirely by Rikizo Hosokawa, and the kenban was contributed to the Shibaura Sangyo Union.
Hosokawa was also the first chairman of the Shibaura Ichome Neighborhood Association. The association was the recipient of an award from the city of Tokyo in recognition of the town's excellency. -
![Kyugoro Sakai, master-carpenter]()
![Kyugoro Sakai, master-carpenter]()
Builders of the kenban 2:
Kyugoro Sakai, master-carpenterKyugoro Sakai was a carpenter who worked for Rikizo Hosokawa. He was born in 1899 in Shizuoka Prefecture. Hosokawa employed Sakai to build several buildings, including the existing Meguro Gajoen, Shibaura Kenban (now The Minato City Center for Traditional Culture), and the ryotei Tokoen (later renamed Shibauraen and dismantled in 1977). Besides supervising work onsite, Sakai worked on design, applied to the metropolitan police for building permits, and even did landscape architecture.
According to Sakai’s daughter, while he was very strict at work, he was a quiet and gentle father at home. He was a passionate learner, and it is said that he accompanied Hosokawa on inspection trips to Kyoto.
