From ¡°Lost in Translation¡± to the Japanese-inspired aesthetics of ¡°Blade Runner,¡± Tokyo¡¯s image overseas has long been one of skyscrapers jutting into the sky.
But it¡¯s easy to forget that it was only recently that the capital developed vertically. In September 1964, ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games, American skylines had long been dominated by decades-old landmarks such as the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings. But the tallest structure in Tokyo was the nine-story National Diet Building, erected in 1936 after a 55-year design period.
Until the 1960s, Japan had strict prohibitions on developments higher than 31 meters (around 100 feet), a provision that kept cities dense but low. It wasn¡¯t until 1968 that the first skyscraper was even constructed, the 36-floor Kasumigaseki Building. The structure, which still stands today, was seen as a symbol of the ¡°city of the future,¡± as postwar Tokyo sought to brand itself.
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