Relationship between the Cultural History of Modern Japan and Rooftop Gardens

Full-scale ferro-concrete building technology came was introduced in Japan in Meiji $35{\sim}40(1902{\sim}1907)$ and heralding the beginning of urban modernization. On the roofs of these new architectural constructions, full-scale rooftop gardens were also developed. We consider that gardens established on the roofs of hotel and department stores created a new, modernized garden culture, which greatly influenced the early modern urban culture of Japan, the drama of which it conceived based on the impression in a rooftop garden is made. In this paper, we discuss the influence of Meiji-Era cultural and technological advances on rooftop gardens constructed during the Taisho $Era(1912{\sim}1926)$, as represented by the gardens of Kobe's Oriental Hotel, Tokyo's Mitsukoshi Department Store and Shimonoseki City's Akita Company. Photographic and print sources are utilized to analyze the design features and temporal changes of these pioneering rooftop gardens, as well as their influence on urban culture.