Ireland House a “Metaphorical Mingling of Two Ancient Traditions”
Top picture courtesy of Henry J. Lyons Architects
We recently enjoyed an exclusive tour of Japan’s newest embassy, located at Ireland House in Yotsuya. “Team Ireland” also includes offices of the Irish departments of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as well as Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia (Food Board) and IDA Ireland, which helps firms enter and expand in Ireland.
From left: Irish Economic Counsellor Rory Conaty, Custom Media Publisher Simon Farrell, Irish Ambassador Damien Cole and Custom Media President Robert Heldt
Japan is Ireland’s second-largest trading partner in the Asia Pacific region, with annual two-way trade of about €23 billion [¥377 billion]. Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin said recently: “The opening of Ireland House Tokyo and our presence at World Expo Osaka will represent the most ambitious investment in this valued relationship since the opening of our Embassy in Tokyo in 1973.”
As Irish Ambassador Damien Cole proudly showed us around the 3,000-square-metre, five-storey property that also features meeting spaces, business centre, library and multi-purpose venue—and serves as his Residence—he explained: “The construction of Ireland House was part of a larger initiative to strengthen relations and exchanges between Ireland and Japan. Team Ireland’s key tasks are to maintain and enhance links with Irish communities and promote Ireland’s trade, investment, culture, heritage and tradition.”
Ireland House has already hosted a number of high-profile events since opening on 7 April, including a Joseph Walsh exhibition, the IJCC AGM, and the screening of two award-winning films: the Japan premiere of Puffin Rock and the New Friends by Kilkenny animation studio Cartoon Saloon, and Our Blue World, a nature documentary narrated by Liam Neeson.
Opening or moving an embassy is a rare and complex task that often takes many years to complete. With 154 embassies in Tokyo, Ireland House is the first new one since Indonesia moved to Higashi-Gotanda in December 2023 and Malta opened its first in Japan at Kamiyacho in September 2020.
One of the largest single capital investments abroad by the Irish government, Ireland House cost some €21-million (about ¥3.4 billion) to design, build and fit out (plus the land cost). It was designed by Dublin consortium Henry J. Lyons Architects which won a competition launched by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland in January 2019 that attracted 67 entries from Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, the UK and the United States. The project took two years to build and has achieved the highest standard of sustainability, LEED Platinum.
The Henry J. Lyons website says: “Overlooking a park in the centre of Tokyo, Ireland House is designed to act as a beacon for business, diplomacy, culture and community. A welcoming deep threshold is hewn from Irish limestone monolithic elements to cradle a delicate latticework of oak-clad lanterns, that contain the principal functions of the brief and address a centrally located Komorre Park and extend its lush landscape into the building.”
The building’s form, according to Henry J. Lyons, is hollowed out at lower levels to create a deep threshold which is both sheltering and inviting while at upper levels its forms step back to create outdoor terraces at every level for the wellbeing of users and in response to its context.
“The architectural solution is a metaphorical mingling of two ancient traditions: the architectural form intertwines the solidity of the Tower House (caisleán) so emblematic of Irish heritage with the lightweight tectonic of a traditional Japanese timber townhouse (machiya) that represents an exemplar of a long tradition in the craft of joinery.”
Embassy of Ireland, Japan
Ireland House
1-6 Yotsuya Honshiocho
Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo, Japan
160-0003
Tel: 03-3263-0695