A lot of things happened in 1958, the year before I made my Tokyo debut.
Announcement of the engagement of His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Michiko Shoda, the screening of the film "Let's Meet in Yurakucho" set at Yurakucho Sogo, the opening of Tokyo Tower, the issuance of the first 10,000 yen note featuring Shotoku Taishi, etc. The first 10,000 yen note was issued 66 years ago, and the third new 10,000 yen note was issued on July 3rd. I remember that my starting salary when I joined the company in 1934 was not yet 10,000 yen.
The bidding for the Togu Palace, the new home of the current Empress, was held on December 22, 1958, and the winning bid was 10,000 yen for Hazama Corporation, 51 million yen for Obayashi Corporation, 72 million yen for Kajima Corporation, 47.5 million yen for Shimizu Corporation, 48 million yen for Taisei Corporation, 69.26 million yen for Takenaka Corporation, and 68 million yen for Toda Corporation. This was discussed on the evening news, and people were shocked that 10,000 yen was unreasonable, but the company president, Kanbe Mannosuke, said,
[In this bidding, I was inspired by a divine revelation when I visited Mount Kuno to ask for God's will, and the design of Shotoku Taishi on the first 10,000 yen bill, which happened to be the Crown Prince, led me to the figure of 10,000 yen. This was by no means a careless idea. I hope that the Minister and all the other high-ranking officials will take this request into consideration. I believe that any Japanese person would understand this. End of article.]
It was legal, but after a night's sleep, someone must have admonished him, saying, "Loyalty is not something you can monopolize by yourself," and he withdrew his bid and left it to the Ministry of Construction, which was how the agreement was reached.
After much effort, the Ministry of Construction came up with a compromise called the JV (Joint Venture), a joint business arrangement. Although JVs are now commonplace, the lead company in this first JV project was Shimizu Corporation, and the total amount was 56.7 million yen, the average of the five companies excluding the highest and lowest bidders, and construction began in January 1959.
I was offered a job at Hazama Corporation in February 1959, but it was not news at Okikamuro. When I arrived at my post in April, the director said nervously, "I'm going to the head office now to get my appointment as the construction manager of the Togu Palace Construction Office."
Currently, at the Aoyama 1-chome intersection, there is the Mitsubishi Jisho Twin Towers on the former site of the Hazama Corporation headquarters to the south of the Togu Palace, and the Honda to the southeast. (Both constructed by Hazama Corporation) The Mitsubishi Jisho Twin Towers are windowsless buildings on the Imperial Palace side, as it is considered inappropriate to look down on the Imperial Family from above.
July 18, 2024
Yoshimi Furutani
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