Anchor Fast Anchor: 2015

In April-May of 1965, my grandfather, Colin Vectis Gray, stayed at the Tokyo Prince Hotel in Minato. He was on a work tour of Japan as the Chairman of the Australian Shipbuilding Board. He took various photographs in and around the hotel. As part of a superheroic geolocation project, I have attempted to identify and re-create the pictures, The re-enactments were done on 29th May 2014.

Approaching on Hibiya Dori, the hotel is now hidden by trees. The Tokyo Tower sits behind it, and a shrine is still present at left. There has been several changes. The tram tracks are gone, the route having been replaced under the road by the Toei Mita subway line. An entrance to Onarimon station is visible in the newer picture. Onarimon station opened in 1972.

A pedestrian bridge has been built, and the vehicles are somewhat more modern.

Front view of Tokyo Prince Hotel. I didn't get the position quite right, I should have been standing in the carpark, over to the left of that hedge row.

Standing on the main driveway of the hotel, looking back towards the small shrine on Hibiya Dori. The landmark Liu Yuan Chinese Restaurant, whose tower pokes above the small shrine, was demolished in the 1980's and replaced with the Liu Yuan Building. (Thank you Zoe Ward for this information).

Lauren helping me here with the re-enactment at a fountain outside Tokyo Prince Hotel. The location of the original photo baffled me for a long time, but the key clue was the Philips advertising sign at the far right, which I noticed in another picture from the hotel. The sign is gone now. The road has been re-modelled since 1965, consuming the grass triangle at left. At the background-right, the low-rise buildings have been replaced by Shiba Park and Minato Library.

This picture of a city Japanese garden had me flummoxed for a long time. I tried and failed to identify the buildings in the reflections in the glass. The colour and pattern of the bricks, and window style led me to think that the Tokyo Prince Hotel was the most likely spot. I was thrilled to find it when snooping around in the hotel in 2014. My second picture was taken from the restaurant inside -- apologies to the young waiter who told me he'd get in trouble with his boss because I didn't order anything to eat. I just wanted the photo!

View from an upper level of the Tokyo Prince Hotel, looking north-east. The Liu Yuan Chinese Restaurant (centre) has been replaced, and Shiba Park now replaces the low-rise buildings in the foreground. The skyline has risen significantly. The Philips advertising sign is in the first of the 1965 pictures, which was the clue to the earlier fountain picture (see the fountain at the bottom of my newer picture. A diagonal line in the concrete road belies the former grass triangle next to the fountain, see above).

South-east-looking view from an upper level of the hotel. The gate to the nearby Zojoji Temple can be seen to the right. The raised Inner Circular Route (Shuto Expressway) is visible in the original picture, top right. it is concealed by trees now.

A picture of Zojoji Temple from the hotel in 1965 (facing South). A new incarnation of Zojoji Temple is on the site now (see a future blog post). The Inner Circular Route (Shuto Expressway) is visible in the distance. I failed to re-enact this photo.

North-west-looking view from the hotel. All the buildings appear to have changed since 1965. The clearing behind the trees, part of Shiba Park, is still present, It is used for school sports. The light brown building is Shiba Junior and Senior High School, with an artificial turf sports ground.

This is a similar view to the previous one, but looking north. I failed to re-enact this picture. The National Diet (parliament) building is on the horizon. Next time, Gadget.

Environs

Hibiya Dori looking south. Tram tracks are removed, subway train underground.

Hibiya Dori looking north showing the Liu Yuan Chinese Restaurant.

A kindergarten or children's playground, now subdivided into a carpark and religious building. Where do the children play now?

I never held much hope of geolocating this picture but the clue was the big red building in the background, the Liu Yuan Chinese restaurant.

Bonus Pictures

Hotel lobby.

Bathroom decor.

Stairs down to Lawson and other shops.

Lift area.

Room interiors.

Views to the Tokyo Tower.

Umbrella racks. It can rain a lot.

I'm not sure if this picture is from the Prince. It might be.

My grandfather's 1965 diary indicating stays at the Tokyo Prince Hotel and travel in Japan.

Now explore for yourself!

See also my related blog post about Tokyo's Hotel Okura.

Thank you to Yuuri-chan, a member of the hotel staff for the warm welcome. Thanks to Lauren for patiently coming with me on this jaunt.

My grandfather, Colin Vectis Gray, a career public servant, had risen by the mid-1960's to become the Chairman of the Australian Shipbuilding Board. In 1965, he travelled to Japan to nurture connections with Japan's thriving shipbuilding industry; meeting with industry figures, and touring shipbuilding facilities. He also took time for social and recreational pursuits. His trip spanned April-June 1965. Very sadly, he died soon afterwards, and I never was able to meet him. However, he left behind a fascinating collection of photographs from that trip, which can be viewed here and here.

In Tokyo, he stayed at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo Prince Hotel and Hotel Okura. This blog post is about the Hotel Okura.

The Hotel Okura was a showpiece, built in 1962 ahead of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Located in the high-class embassy district of Roppongi, it has been a favourite of heads of state and celebrities. Indeed, my grandfather made several visits to the Australian embassy. The Okura's unique architecture and design are celebrated. In Japanese style, impressive main building will close for demolition in August this year, with some cries of protest.

After employing a lot of detective work on the old photos, I went to Hotel Okura on 29th May 2014 and attempted to reproduce his photographs.

In this frontal view, some skyscraper buildings have emerged behind the hotel; the Toranomon Twin Building (虎ノ門ツイン)(1988) and Toranomon Hills (虎ノ門ヒルズ)(2014). I believe that my grandfather stayed on the 7th floor of the hotel; the second row from the top, in the sixth room from the left in these photographs.

Side view. It was difficult to get the positioning right on this one; the extension of the annex building into the driveway threw me off.

The United States of America embassy across the road from Hotel Okura.

Shinreikyo religion headquarters, across the road from Hotel Okura. This is a local religion in Japan. The text on the wall says 'Shinreikyo. A cause of miracles surpassing Lourdes'. This organisation is still at this location, although it's not especially recognisable from the old photo.

I found this view from the 11th floor, at the Sazanka (Teppanyaki) and Chinese Table Starlight Restaurants in the main building's eastern wing, looking south-east towards the Tokyo Tower. The Tokyo Prince Hotel can be seen on the left in the earlier photo. The Tokyo Tower gave unimpeded TV and radio coverage to Tokyo in its early days, but radio shadows caused by larger buildings necessitated the construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree, which opened in 2012.
A reverse-angle view (from the tower towards the hotel) in 1961 shows many of the same structures. (That and other Tokyo Tower views are collected in this very interesting blog).

In 1965, the National Diet (parliament) building was visible from Hotel Okura (on the horizon in the 1965 photo). In the near foreground, the Nippon Mining building has been replaced with the Toranomon Twin Building. Buildings in the middle distance are largely still extant, including the corrugated-roofed one at far right, concealed by the Toranomon Twin Building in 2014. My photo looks north-east from a small teppanyaki room on a higher floor (9F?) near the centre of the Okura building.

My photo was taken from the same position in the small teppanyaki room. Unfortunately it appears that the older photo was taken from a lower floor in the building. The wedge-shaped Hotel Okura Annex building is on the right. The shed-like Nippon Mining building, (whose roof advertises their product, 'Cactus') has been replaced by the Toranomon Twin Building (1988). Rooftop advertising signs for Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen and Tupperware are visible in the 1965 photo, This picture looks east towards Toranomon Hills.

I wasn't able to re-create this photo due to a lack of time. It is a similar view to the one above; facing east. The photo was taken at the eastern end of the main building. The lawn and old building at the right have since been replaced with a monolithic office building, '37 Mori Building'. The building with the Tupperware signage was demolished sometime prior to 2009, when the earliest Google Street View imagery shows the site as having no building (just a car park).

Roaming the hotel hallways, we ran into the hotel Managing Director, Mr. Akira Nishimura. I explained my quest to him, and showed him the old photos on my phone. He called someone on his mobile phone and spoke for several minutes in Japanese, while examining my old pictures carefully. Eventually, he led us into a guest room that had recently been vacated. He explained apologetically that this was the only unoccupied room that would give an approximate match to the old photo. After careful comparison of the photos on the computer at home, I am certain that this room was the exact one my grandfather stayed in. The view is from the 7th floor facing south-west, room M753. The building in the foreground is the Okura Shukokan Museum (大倉集古館). The skyline in 1965 was quite clear. The spire at right in the 1965 photo belongs to the former Reinan Hill Church (霊南坂教会)(built 1917, demolished 1985?). More info: 1 2 3 4. In 2014, tall buildings clutter the background, including the Hotel Okura South Wing at left.

These photos show a lady friend at the same window, with the Okura Shukokan Museum outside. The wooden beam on the wall at head-height continues into the third photo, showing the interior of the guest room in 1965. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the room interior in 2014, but I can confirm that the decor had been updated and is white, neutral.