- - - - -
On November 7th, the U.S. Navy's top Regional/Ashore Command in Japan (NAVFOR/NAVREGION JAPAN) held a ceremony at Yokosuka Navy Base (Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the completion of the former Imperial Japanese Navy Yokosuka Naval District Headquarters building, where CNFJ/CNRJ's headquarters is located.
The historic building was originally home to the Imperial Japanese Navy's "Naval District Headquarters" from the Meiji era until its defeat in World War II. It was built in 1926 and is a steel-frame structure replacing the original brick building severely damaged in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. It is considered one of Japan's earliest earthquake-resistant buildings. Due to its U.S. military status, it is not open to the public.
In 2016, the Agency for Cultural Affairs designated Yokosuka City, Maizuru City in Kyoto Prefecture, Kure City in Hiroshima Prefecture, and Sasebo City in Nagasaki Prefecture — all four cities where naval district headquarters were located — as "Japan Heritage" sites, preserving the history and culture of naval port cities. In Yokosuka, in addition to this building, several other former Imperial Japanese Navy structures remain, mainly around the base, and are designated as constituent cultural properties.
- - - - -
https://sorairo-net.com/rekishi/yokosuka/inaokacho/004.html
== Information about the building of the Yokosuka Naval District Headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
After the end of World War II in 1945, it was requisitioned by the Allied forces and became the ashore headquarters of the United States Navy in Japan.
The Tokai Naval District, established in Yokohama in 1876, relocated to Yokosuka in December 1884 and became the Yokosuka Naval District. Immediately after the relocation, they shared some of the official residences at the Yokosuka Shipyard.
In 1888, a shipbuilding department was established at the Yokosuka Naval District, and in May 1891, the Yokosuka Shipyard was abolished and integrated into the Yokosuka Naval District Shipbuilding Department.
In 1887 (Meiji 20), as the functions of the Yokosuka Naval District were expanded, the temporary headquarters, which was located in the Yokosuka Shipyard's employee quarters, became too small and hindered the smooth operation of operations. Furthermore, the aging of the headquarters and the inconvenience of receiving foreign dignitaries such as visiting foreign warships made construction of a new headquarters building necessary. Construction of headquarters buildings also progressed at the Kure Naval Port Command (later the Kure Naval District) and the Sasebo Naval Port Command (later the Sasebo Naval District).
The designer was Goro Watanabe, the chief engineer of the Yokosuka Naval District's Architectural Department. Tadayoshi Hayashi, who was also in the Yokosuka Naval District's Architectural Department, assisted. Hayashi was widely involved in the architectural design of government buildings, including the Supreme Court building completed in 1877 (Meiji 10), and the Yokosuka Naval District Headquarters building was the last full-scale government building he was involved in. The site was created by leveling the hills adjacent to the Yokosuka Shipyard, and construction of the headquarters building proceeded from there.
In April 1890 (Meiji 23), the naval base headquarters building was completed. It was a two-story brick building in the historicist style. A porte-cochère was located in the center of the building, a pediment with a large chrysanthemum crest was placed above the eaves in the center, and hip roofs were placed on both wings, with a symmetrical structure featuring projecting cornices. After its completion, many government buildings under the jurisdiction of the Yokosuka Naval Base were constructed using wooden historicist architecture. In the Taisho era, reinforced concrete buildings began to be constructed, but the construction of brick historicist buildings continued.
On September 1, 1923 (Taisho 12), the building collapsed due to the Great Kanto Earthquake. Most of the brick buildings related to the Yokosuka Naval District, except for the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal building, suffered significant damage or collapsed. Steel-frame and reinforced concrete buildings sustained only minor damage. Furthermore, the Naval Engineering School building was completely destroyed by fire. Therefore, the Ministry of the Navy adopted a policy of constructing earthquake-resistant and fireproof buildings.
In March 1926 (Taisho 15), construction began on the site of the collapsed old building, and the current naval district headquarters building was completed in October.
The design was carried out by three people: Shimada Hideo, an engineer in the Yokosuka Naval District's Architectural Department, and technicians Higuchi Kazuo and Kikuchi Hideo. The construction was awarded to Mabuchi-gumi, a company established in Yokosuka that undertook many naval-related construction projects.
It was a three-story steel-frame building. The total floor area was 675 tsubo (approximately 2,200 square meters), and the total construction cost was 237,276 yen. A porte-cochère was provided in the center of the building, and the roof was a flat, undecorated roof, resulting in a modern, box-shaped architectural design. Earthquake and fire resistance were taken into consideration, with a flexible structure-based earthquake-resistant design being adopted, and fire prevention measures were also taken.
Around 1934 (Showa 9), the Yokosuka Naval District Conference Hall and the Yokosuka Naval Ship Department were completed.
The Yokosuka Naval District Conference Hall was planned as a single-story steel-frame building next to the Naval District Headquarters building. However, because the Personnel Department and Ship Department, located on the third floor of the Naval District Headquarters building, had become too small, the plan was changed to a two-story building, with the Ship Department office and conference hall annexes on the first floor. The two-story steel-frame building had its exterior walls covered in reddish-brown brick tiles, a triangular gable topped the building, and large columns with decorative capitals rose from the center of the building, supporting the entablature. The triangular gable, walls, and entablature were adorned with ornaments, resulting in a building that followed the tradition of highly decorative historicist architecture. It is the most ornate building within the jurisdiction of the Yokosuka Naval District.
On August 30, 1945 (Showa 20), with the end of the war, the Allied forces occupied Yokosuka, and the Yokosuka Naval District was requisitioned by the Allied forces, with a purifier being erected by the American military.
On April 28, 1952 (Showa 27), with the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, the U.S. military was stationed in Japan, replacing the Allied occupation forces, and the Yokosuka Naval District building is now used as the headquarters of the U.S. Naval Forces in Japan. The adjacent Yokosuka Naval District Conference Hall and Yokosuka Naval Ship Department has the U.S. Navy Yokosuka Base (CFAY) Headquarters on the first floor and a multi-purpose hall on the second floor.
