Prologue

Here is a group photograph from the Meiji era. It shows the 26 founding members of the Sumitomo Main Store Temporary Construction Department, the predecessor of Nikken Sekkei. The building in the background was the department’s office at the time—the nagayamon gate of the Tokushima Domain residence, located along the Dojima River in Osaka.On the wooden board in the left corner, the words “Sumitomo Head Office Temporary Construction Department” are written vertically in ink. As the term “Temporary” in the name suggests, the department was established on the premise that it would be dissolved once its specific purpose was fulfilled.
It was founded in Meiji 33 (1900).

Some 30-odd years later, in Showa 8 (1933), swept up in the global Great Depression, the Construction Division of Sumitomo Limited Partnership—the successor to the Temporary Construction Department—was forced to carry out a series of layoffs.The two leaders of the Construction Department, Eikichi Hasebe and Kenzo Takekoshi, could not bear to watch the department’s staff disperse. They resolved to leave Sumitomo themselves and, together with 30 department members, strike out on their own to establish an architectural firm. However, setting out on this venture required the resolve of rowing a small boat through the storm of the Great Depression.This marked the founding of the Hasebe & Takekoshi Architectural Office.

Just before the end of World War II, the Hasebe & Takekoshi Architectural Office—which had weathered the crisis of the Great Depression—had grown into a large firm with 250 employees. However, in accordance with the government’s Corporate Reorganization Order, it was reintegrated into Sumitomo.
Immediately after the war, the firm became Nippon Construction Industry, which also included a trading division. But in Showa 25 (1950), as reconstruction from the war’s ruins began in earnest, 92 engineers—descendants of the Temporary Construction Department—set out once again into the chaotic postwar world.This marked the establishment of Nikken Sekkei Construction. People from that era recall that this independence was “a new beginning tinged with a sense of pathos.”

By the end of 2013, the number of executives and employees at Nikken Sekkei and the Nikken Group had exceeded 2,500. Today, together with Nikken Sekkei and seven group companies specializing in specific fields, we operate as a consulting group capable of providing a wide range of services. The Nikken Group organizational chart is shown below.

Currently, Nikken Sekkei is involved in design and supervision for numerous projects, including the Tokyo Skytree, and has become Japan’s largest architectural design and urban planning firm.Although Nikken Sekkei is not widely known among the general public, it is true that the firm refrains from advertising on television, in newspapers, and other media in accordance with the ethical guidelines of what is known in Europe and the United States as a “professional corporation.”

Overseas, the firm is advancing projects in various regions around the world, including China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East, Russia, and Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia.In a global ranking of architectural firms based on the size of their professional staff, published by a British architecture magazine, the firm has consistently ranked among the top five for the past decade. The firm’s contributions to various societies—made possible by the technical expertise and sensibilities cultivated in Japan while respecting the cultures of each country—are now recognized worldwide.

Among the architectural firms active on the global stage, Nikken Sekkei is one of those with the longest history. However, we do not believe that value lies solely in “size” or “history.” We believe that true value lies in the “trust” we have earned from so many people over such a long period of time as a result of our steadfast dedication to each and every project.