Individuals

It’s the 40th Anniversary of our 333 East 47th Street building…
GIVE A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY GIFT TO JAPAN SOCIETY!

Japan House in 1971 © Thomas Haar. Japan Society today © Peter Aaron/Esto.

Completed in 1971, our treasured building  by Junzo Yoshimura and George G. Shimamoto received an exceptional birthday present this year—landmark status from The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Since opening its doors, this architectural gem has hosted thousands of programs, mounted over one hundred art exhibitions, and welcomed millions of visitors and friends like you.

Give a birthday gift to Japan Society today with a tax-deductible contribution! Your gift will allow Japan Society to take on important initiatives in the new year, including exciting programs, a major visitor service desk enhancement project, the administration of the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund and the care and improvement of our historic building for generations to come.

Japan Society in 1971 © Laura Beaujon. Japan Society today © George Hirose.

A Brief History of 333 East 47th Street

Opened to the public in September 1971, Japan Society’s Japan House at 333 East 47th Street was designed by Junzo Yoshimura and George Shimamoto of Gruzen & Partners of New York.

Including the land donated by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, the total cost of the House was $4.75 million. The staff moved into the new building in April 1971, and the House was officially opened to the public in a week-long celebration beginning September 13, 1971. Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi, Emperor Hirohito’s second son, attended the opening ceremony on September 13.

Japan House and its facilities were warmly received by the press and public. The chief appeal of the building lay in its distinctively Japanese feeling, but this effect, remarkably, had been accomplished almost entirely with American materials. Standing four stories high, the House conveyed a sleek, elegant image of modern Japan, from its black-painted façade with shapes and design elements of traditional Japanese architecture to its interior rooms, which opened onto gardens in typical Japanese style. The entry to the building offered a serene expanse of polished black slate around a shallow pool filled with bamboo, over which rose the staircase to the second floor.

In the 1990s, Japan Society underwent a series of capital expansions. The sidewalk on 47th Street outside the Society’s headquarters was excavated, and a new library was built underground, along with a language center and a library, ultimately adding 2,300 square feet to the building. The expansions also refurbished the Society’s performing arts facility, enlarged Gallery space and meeting rooms on the second floor, and added a fifth floor of office space.

Since opening its doors, 333 East 47th Street has hosted thousands of programs, mounted over one hundred art exhibitions, and welcomed millions of friends and visitors. In 2011, in recognition of the building’s important historical and aesthetic value and contribution to New York City’s landscape, heritage and culture, the Landmarks Preservation Commission crowned it as the youngest municipal landmark to date.

Excerpted and edited from Japan Society: Celebrating a Century, 1907–2007 by Michael R. Auslin.