Marieke Vansina
Masters Student 1st Year
Graduate School of Social Sciences
I chose to go on the ICC National Diet Building Tour on June 22nd because I was recommended a tour of the Diet Building by my professor back home, I am interested in Japanese politics and because ICC events are always a good way to meet new people.
The National Diet Building is the place where the sessions of the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors take place and thus the center of Japanese politics. Quite often, you can see groups of people demonstrating against a new policy. On the day of the tour, there was one man demonstrating against Abe’s politics.
It was an incredibly hot day, but luckily enough the inside of the building was cool.
The National Diet Building was built in 1936 in a combination of Western and Oriental architecture and as our tour guide explained, with only Japanese materials, which I found very surprising.
The inside of the Diet Building has been retained as it was build, which causes for a very authentic and slightly intimidating atmosphere. Our guide lead us through the hallways with party offices to the Emperor’s Room and the Chamber of the House of Representatives on the second floor. The last one in particular was very impressive. In front of the seats are nameplates for every member, which are erected when the person is present.
The Central Hall was also absolutely gorgeous, with four paintings depicting the four seasons in every corner of the ceiling and the statues of the Hirobumi Itō, Taisuke Itagaki and Shigenobu Ōkuma.
Outside the Diet Building, there is a garden with plants from every prefecture of Japan with name plates indicating where they come from, which I thought to be a nice touch.
The tour ended in front of the Diet Building, which provided us with the opportunity for a nice group picture (always a must!).
The ICC members also showed us around the park in front of the Diet Building, where Japan’s Geodetic Origin Point (point zero) is located. The garden is split into a Northern Garden and a Southern Garden, one a Western style garden, the other a Japanese style garden.
All-in all, I’m very glad I took part in this tour as on top of learning a great deal about Japanese politics, I got the chance to become better friends with other exhange students. A tour of the National Diet Building is definetly something I would recommend for anyone visiting Tokyo.
I’m looking forward to the next ICC event!
