Former Prime Minister's Official Residence (Suzuki Kantarō Era)

The Naikaku Sōri Daijin Kantei (内閣総理大臣官邸), commonly known as the Kantei, is the official workplace and residence of the Prime Minister of Japan, located at 2-3-1 Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, diagonally adjacent to the National Diet Building. The original Kantei was completed in March 1929 as part of the post-Great Kanto Earthquake reconstruction of central government facilities. This Art Deco–influenced reinforced concrete structure served as both the office and residence of every Japanese Prime Minister from 1929 until 2002, making it one of the most historically significant government buildings in modern Japanese history.

During the February 26 Incident (二・二六事件) of 1936, radical young officers of the Imperial Japanese Army's Kōdō-ha faction launched a coup attempt in central Tokyo. Among their targets was Kantarō Suzuki, then serving as Grand Chamberlain (侍従長) to Emperor Hirohito. Although Suzuki was attacked at his separate Chamberlain's residence in Kojimachi Sanbancho, the insurgents simultaneously occupied the Prime Minister's Official Residence, the War Ministry, and the area around the National Diet. The bullet holes from the incident were preserved in the building's entrance hall for decades. Suzuki survived despite being shot multiple times, with the bullets remaining in his body for the rest of his life.

Nine years later, on April 7, 1945, the 77-year-old Suzuki was appointed Prime Minister at the Emperor's request, with the implicit mission of finding a way to end the war. The Kantei became the epicenter of the most consequential political deliberations in Japanese history. From this building, Suzuki managed the impossible balancing act between military hardliners who demanded a fight to the death and those who recognized the necessity of surrender. On July 28, 1945, Suzuki held his fateful press conference at the Kantei where he used the word "mokusatsu" (黙殺, "kill with silence") regarding the Potsdam Declaration—a statement that was translated by Western news agencies as "reject," potentially prolonging the war. Following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet declaration of war, Suzuki convened the decisive Imperial Conference on August 9–10, where he took the unprecedented step of requesting the Emperor's personal decision (聖断, Seidan) to break a 3-to-3 deadlock. Emperor Hirohito spoke in favor of accepting the Allied terms.

In the early hours of August 15, 1945, during the Kyūjō Incident (宮城事件), a group of rebel Army officers who opposed the surrender decision attacked multiple targets in Tokyo. They set fire to Prime Minister Suzuki's private residence and also targeted the Kantei. Suzuki narrowly escaped assassination for the second time in his life. Despite the chaos, the Emperor's recorded surrender broadcast (Gyokuon-hōsō) was aired at noon that day, bringing World War II to an end.

The original 1929 Kantei building served continuously until April 2002, when the current modern Kantei was completed adjacent to it. The old building was then physically relocated (曳家) and extensively renovated, reopening in 2005 as the Prime Minister's Official Residence (首相公邸, Shushō Kōtei), used as the PM's living quarters. The relocated structure retains its historical character, and the bullet marks from the February 26 Incident are reportedly still visible in the entrance area. The site stands as a tangible reminder of the pivotal decisions that ended the Pacific War.