Architects play an essential role in contemporary society, helping to shape the environment in which we live and work. This book explores how architects in Japan have responded to the demands of their times and how they continue to engage with new economic realities and the shifting global order.

The moving image of Japanese society is reflected in the work of the architects profiled in this book: from the generation rising from the ashes of postwar Japan, through the postwar economic boom, to the generation that quietly gathered strength during the recession of the1970s; from the generation that debuted in the bubble economy of the 1980s to the generation that began their work after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the collapse of the bubble economy; and finally, after decades of economic stagnation, to the generation that has come to the fore since the early twenty-first century.

Contemporary Japanese architects have pioneered developments in sustainability and introduced engineering innovations that have changed not only the look of modern buildings but the ways in which they can be constructed. Japanese design concepts, realized in major public buildings around the world, communicate with a global audience and contribute toward shaping our shared future.