This is not about returning to the prewar Meiji Constitution. Next to Palaceside Building, inside the Imperial Palace, renovation of the former Privy Council building has finished after about seven years. It is the revival of a structure hailed as "a precious Taisho-era government building ranking with the National Diet Building."
The Privy Council was the emperor's supreme advisory body under the old constitution. Established in 1888 (Meiji 21) to deliberate the draft Meiji Constitution, it reviewed important matters and treaty conclusion. Composed of a chairman, vice chairman, and counselors, its members included Meiji-era statesmen, senior bureaucrats, and scholars — Ito Hirobumi served as the first chairman. The building originally stood on the current Diet Building site but was rebuilt inside today's Imperial Palace in 1921 (Taisho 10). After the war, with abolition of the Privy Council in 1947 (Showa 22), it served as temporary quarters for the Supreme Court and others; from 1962 it was the Imperial Palace Police
headquarters and other functions, but after the headquarters moved to the current main building nearby in 1984, only part was used as storage and demolition was even considered. As the Imperial Palace Police headquarters, the director's office and security division are scheduled to move in by the end of this month.
The building is two-story reinforced concrete with about 1,220 square meters of total floor area. The same designers who worked on the Diet Building participated; the front entrance has four Doric columns about 10 meters high evoking a Greek temple, and the roof is pyramid-shaped like the Diet Building. Inside, red carpet remains as at construction, and stained glass partly restored survives in the hall ceiling= photo right. Bronze lamps before the entrance were also restored to their original appearance= photo left. Rooms, however, were renovated to accommodate personal comp
uters and communications equipment. Total cost: about 560 million yen.
It lies in the "Fukiage Imperial Garden area," which unlike the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace is not freely accessible, but you can view the exterior by applying for a "guided visit." Tours cover about 2 kilometers in roughly one hour (see the Imperial Household Agency website = http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/guide/koukyo.html).