Marugen building in Roppongi demolished

TOKYO (TR) – Genshiro Kawamoto’s Marugen No. 12 in Roppongi, which once housed numerous nightclubs, is now being demolished.

Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Kawamoto started leasing space to bars and restaurants in Kyushu in the 1960s. He moved to Tokyo in 1972. Within two years, he had constructed his first multi-tenant building in Ginza, where he would eventually accumulate at least eight properties.

During the “bubble” period of the 1980s, the property tycoon expanded into Tokyo’s Akasaka and Roppongi districts and the Nakasu entertainment area of Fukuoka.

At its peak, the Marugen group had its name on approximately 60 buildings and collected 10 billion yen annually in revenue. Kawamoto himself was said to be worth more than 100 billion yen.

Most of the photos of Marugen No. 12 in the collection below are from 2008.

(Photo by The Tokyo Reporter, June 15, 2008)

(Photo by The Tokyo Reporter, June 15, 2008)

(Photo by The Tokyo Reporter, June 15, 2008)

(Photo by The Tokyo Reporter, September 11, 2009)