The department store where there was an elephant
It is not well known that elephants were once bred on the roof of Nihonbashi Takashimaya. In 1950, when signs of a peaceful life began to appear after the war, an eight-month-old child elephant from Thailand came to the roof of Takashimaya in Nihonbashi. My name is Takako.
From Shiodome, a child elephant riding a trailer on Ginza Street parade to Takashimaya in Nihonbashi. It was said that there were 170,000 people along the road at that time. Takako-chan (nicknamed Taka-chan), which was brought to entertain people in a time when entertainment was scarce, became a popular rooftop person.
For four years before being taken over to Ueno Zoo in 1954, he provided a large number of children with "memories of riding an elephant Takachan", and when he traveled to Ueno, he slowly descended the stairs inside the store. It is said that Togo Murano, the architect who was in charge of the extension, built a tower on the rooftop with the motif of a child elephant, Takako.
In September 2018, when the Nihonbashi Takashimaya S.C. New Building opened, the large arched glass roof installed from the new building side to gently cover the tower is impressive. Looking at the large glass roof covering the main building, an important cultural property, to protect the elephant's elephant's elephant's elephant's elephant's elephant's elephant's elephant's elephant's elephant's elephant's elephant's elephant. I was struck.
※The photos are taken with the permission of Nihonbashi Takashimaya.