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As you enter the Kantei from the main gate,
on the right hand side was a three-story building that was called the Annex. On
the first floor of the Annex was the Briefing Room which was used by the Prime
Minister and Chief Cabinet Secretary for press conferences, and a room that was
called the Nagata Club, due to its use by members of the Press Club. On the second
floor were the branch office of the Cabinet Public Relations Office, and the Kantei
Photography Office. On the third floor the Crisis Management Center and the Intelligence
Gathering Center were located.
The Crisis Management Center and the Intelligence Gathering Center were established
in 1995, learning the lessons of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. These centers
were operated around the clock and enabled a swift response by the Kantei
in the case of emergency situations.
The history of the Annex went back to the completion of the Kantei itself,
when a single-story building of reinforced concrete was built as an office for
newspaper journalists. In the post-war period, the number of journalists increased
and the necessity for a room exclusively for the use of press conferences arose,
which led to the erection of a two-story "former Annex" in July 1962.
The latest Annex was completed in March 1996 as a temporary structure after the
demolition of the former Annex in connection with the construction of the new
Kantei. In this way the history of the Annex reflects the history of Kantei
itself, always responding to the needs of the age. |
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