A Legacy of Love for Nature

Another revolutionary feature of the North Wing of the Shin-Daibiru Building was the installation of a rooftop garden—the first of its kind in Japan. Tsuneari Fukuda, a famous literary scholar who visited the building, expressed surprise in his description of the garden: “On the roof of this 12-story building, there is an area about 3,300 m² in size containing an artificial hill, a lawn, 3,759 evergreen trees, 522 deciduous trees, and 1,110 flowering plants, with 100 species of plants. There are also feeders and water troughs to attract wild birds and provide resting places for migratory birds. They’ve even purified the water for the birds’ sake because it was said to contain lime.” Part of the reason for the installation of the rooftop garden was the strong belief of then-president Tomoe Kudo in the protection of nature. He said, “Land development is necessary to sustain and improve human livelihoods. That development takes the form of civil engineering, and it must be admitted that civil engineering the way it is currently done destroys nature, more or less.” After acknowledging this, he expressed the following thoughts: “Human wisdom and our primacy over nature demand that we protect nature and protect the living environment of all living things while we develop the land and promote civil engineering for the benefit of human livelihoods.” The result of Kudo’s deep knowledge of civil engineering, architecture, and nature conservation was revealed in the creation of the rooftop garden.