JP Tower (KITTE)

A 38-story, 200-meter mixed-use tower completed in 2012, built around the preserved facade of the 1931 Tokyo Central Post Office. The lower floors house the KITTE retail complex, with interiors designed by Kengo Kuma.

Use

Office tower

Area

Chiyoda City

Completed

2012

Floors

38 above ground, 4 below

Height

200 m

Developer

Japan Post, JR East, Mitsubishi Estate

Architect

Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei

A Post Office Wall Beneath a Modern Tower

Head south from Tokyo Station’s Marunouchi South Exit and a building with a striking horizontal stone facade will soon come into view. This is JP Tower, a 38-story mixed-use complex completed in 2012, rising 200 meters from a site immediately adjacent to Tokyo Station.

What sets this building apart from other skyscrapers in the district is the history embedded in its lower levels. Part of the exterior walls of the former Tokyo Central Post Office — completed in 1931 and designed by Yoshida Tetsuro, an architect who worked within the Ministry of Communications — has been preserved and integrated into the new structure. The tower was designed by Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei and developed as a joint project by Japan Post, JR East, and Mitsubishi Estate.

The KITTE retail facility spans basement one through the sixth floor. Its centerpiece is a generous open atrium designed by architect Kengo Kuma, who drew on the imagery of the former post office while creating a light-filled contemporary space. The name KITTE — meaning “stamp” in Japanese — carries the memory of the site’s postal heritage into the present.

Connecting Preservation and Development

When the redevelopment of the former Tokyo Central Post Office was proposed, the project sparked considerable public debate about whether Yoshida’s modernist building should be preserved or demolished. The eventual outcome — retaining portions of the historic facade while building a 200-meter tower above and around them — became an influential model for how major urban development can engage with, rather than erase, architectural heritage.

The tower’s design maintains a visual continuity with the Marunouchi streetscape and the landmark brick station building nearby, even as it extends far above them. The site that for decades served Japan as its central postal hub now carries commercial and office functions layered over that long history. In the heart of Tokyo, directly in front of the nation’s most iconic station, JP Tower stands as a demonstration that a city can move forward without wholly leaving its past behind. The seam between the 1931 walls and the 2012 tower rising above them is visible to anyone who walks the base of the building — and it is worth a slow, close look.

Summary

JP Tower was completed in 2012, with 38 floors above ground and a height of 200 meters. Its defining characteristic is the preserved exterior of the 1931 Tokyo Central Post Office, designed by Yoshida Tetsuro, integrated into the foundation of the modern tower. The KITTE retail complex fills the lower levels, with interiors by Kengo Kuma. Standing just south of Tokyo Station, this is one of the most compelling examples of historic preservation within a major urban redevelopment in Japan. Next time you are in Marunouchi, walk along the base and find the place where old stone meets new glass — the story of this place lives in that junction.

Related: Marunouchi Building / Shin-Marunouchi Building