St. Mary's Cathedral, Catholic cathedral in Sekiguchi district, Tokyo, Japan.
St. Mary's Cathedral is a Catholic place of worship in the Sekiguchi district, completed in 1964 to a design by Kenzo Tange and considered a landmark of postwar modernism. The building presents eight curved concrete walls forming a cross and clad in stainless steel on the outside, while inside a large open hall emerges without supporting columns.
The first church here was a wooden Gothic building of 1899, built with students' help for the Holy Mother French School founded by priest Jean-Pierre Rey. It survived the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake but burned in the air raid of 25 May 1945. After years in a Quonset hut and borrowed churches, the present cathedral was completed in December 1964, after a 1962 competition supported by the Archdiocese of Cologne.
The cathedral is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which gives the Japanese name 東京カテドラル聖マリア大聖堂. The entrance route follows a Japanese temple pattern: visitors pass a replica of the Lourdes grotto, then turn and climb stairs to the main hall. Inside, a replica of Michelangelo's Pietà and relics of St. Francis Xavier and the Magi are displayed.
The cathedral is located in Bunkyo ward and welcomes visitors during daylight hours, with services held on Sundays. The large open interior accommodates hundreds of people and is accessible at ground level, allowing visitors to move freely around the space.
The ceiling opens along the cross shape through narrow bands of light that cast different shadows on the bare concrete walls depending on the time of day. These lines run from floor to peak and make the room seem taller than it actually is.
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