My second Frank Lloyd Wright building in Japan was the simple, yet beautiful, Jiyu Gakuen Myonichikan. Myonichikan or “the House of Tomorrow” was designed by Wright in 1921 for the girls’ school Jiyu Gakuen. Originally built in a quiet and spread-out Tokyo neighborhood, the area of Ikebukuro has grown a lot. The neighborhood, surprisingly, is still very calm and peaceful immediately around the school.
Finding Jiyu Gakuen
I found the meandering, ten minute journey from subway to the campus intriguing. I didn’t know what I would find on winding, narrow streets. Each turn presented another surprise as I eagerly searched for the building. At last I came around a corner and saw a building with Wrightian features. It wasn’t the school, but I knew it had to be related somehow. Then, I saw it. I paused for a moment as the sight imbued me with excitement.
As I approached, I noticed a sign posting the closure for the day due to a private event, a wedding. My spirits dropped a little, but I wandered onto the property anyway and learned that I was allowed to explore outside, just not inside.
Myonichikan Campus
The school is laid out in a horseshoe floorplan surrounding a central yard. The buildings are all low, horizontal structures that seem to grow out of or to be firmly planted into the site. On each side there are classrooms in one-story wings. The central building is the axis of the symmetrical campus. At this point, the main hall with a lounge on the main level and dining hall on the second level rise as the focal point. This was the venue for the wedding, so I only saw it from the outside.
The large windowed façade leads the eye up to linger on the simple geometric patterns in the windows. These geometric patterns are repeated throughout the campus in skylights, furniture, and other details. It really drives home the way Wright worked, designing everything he could because it all goes together.
The stones have a very unique texture and color. It blends nicely with the plaster and wood accents. An additional little detail that I loved, the stone owls, I’m not sure if they’re even from Wright. The are carved in the same stone as used in the building. I think they are great!
Someday, I will return to Jiyu Gakuen Myonichikan and tour the inside as well. In the mean time I must rely on photographs and what I have experienced on the outside.
