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Official Residence A virtual tour of the former Kantei (Prime Minister's Official Residence)
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First Floor - South Side
The Large Dining Room > The Smoking Room > The Small Dining Room
The Large Dining Room
Not merely a place for dining
The Large Dining Room
The Large Dining Room
Photo No.1 The Large Dining Room Photo No.2 Sculptures of angels
Spread across the south side of the first floor of the Kantei were the Large Dining Room, the Smoking Room and the Small Dining Room.

In this section, we introduce the Large Dining Room, which was used for luncheons, dinners and various receptions for foreign guests. In fact, despite its name the room was also used for meetings on a daily basis. Examples of such meetings included meetings of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, meetings of the IT Strategic Headquarters, the Senior Vice-Minister meetings and meetings of Administrative Senior Vice-Minister.

It was somewhat mystifying as to why a room used for important meetings should be known as the Large Dining Room.

If we delve into history, we see that in 1956 a banquet was indeed held in the room to celebrate Japan's admission to the United Nations. It was also this room in which a 1993 Tokyo Summit working dinner was held.

It is due to the fact that the Kantei had few meeting rooms that the Large Dining Room was effectively used as a meeting room.
The Smoking Room
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