The Palaceside Building is featured at length in the lead special of Tokyo Metro’s monthly TOKYO METRO NEWS November issue, “Enjoy the city and nature: Takebashi ran-ran-ran♪.” This introduction comes a little late. Being monthly, the December issue comes out on December 1. Through November it is in racks at Metro stations; if you have not seen it, please hur
ry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!‼
Circulation is 100,000 — quite something even beside newsstand magazines. Of course it is free.
The Palaceside Building introduction (photo above) occupies the top half of the first page after the cover (photo at left). Three photos — the exterior, the “Stairway of Dreams” and Mainichi Shrine on the roof — are combined under the line “a mixed-use building famous as one of
Japan’s notable works of architecture,” stressing station-direct access and PR-ing that “the bold architecture, winner of many awards, is worth a look!” The page-bottom “aside” says “On the ninth-floor eaves, pigeon sculptures peek out here and there. Try to find them.”
Also shown with photos are the first-floor running station “Run Pit by au Smart Sports” and “Fujikoshi Kajitsuten Jun Fresh,” which sells fresh juice.
Each issue, Naoki Prize author Ira Ishida’s essay on the special’s area, “In a town with a Metro,” is titled this time “Takebashi, town of science and modern architecture.” He writes memories and thoughts of the Science Museum (“science”) and the Palaceside Building (“modern architecture”) (photo at right).
We quote.
“…On the ‘modern’ side, the image of the Palaceside Building with its two cylinder-shaped round volumes is especially strong. … The elevator halls and such are circular; I thought they were like a spaceship. Buying a little sweet at the kiosk was such fun. … I never imagined I would serialize a novel in The Mainichi Newspapers, in that round building I visited as a child, but Tokyo’s modern buildings have piled up that much history. …”