At the edge of Ueno Park sits an elegant Victorian-style building. Designed by the pioneer Japanese architect Hanroku Yamaguchi, who studied at the Ecole Politechnique in Paris, the Sogakudo was constructed in 1890 as the first hall for the performance of Western music in Japan.
For almost a century, the Sogakudo was located in the quiet grounds of the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music. Endowed with superb natural acoustics, it provided a perfect venue for both performers visiting from abroad and the best Japanese performers of Western and Japanese music. Such artists as Kosaku Yamada, Rentaro Taki and Michio Miyagi were among those who performed frequently in this hall.
By the late '70s, though, the Sogakudo had become run down and almost useless as a hall. Paint had peeled from the walls, the roof leaked and its fine pipe organ, once the pride of Japan, functioned only as a nesting place for mice and small birds.