Built in 1923 as a branch of the First National Bank of Japan by the renowned Swedish architecture and design firm Claesson Koivisto Rune, K5 will straddle the East meets West divide when it opens its doors in Tokyo come February.
A rarity in Japan, the building is home to ceilings that reach heights of almost five meters and is already home to Brooklyn Brewery’s first beer hall outside of its New York home.
K5 will also house a 20-room hotel; well-known Nordic-Japanese restaurant Kabi’s spin-off called Caveman, which is already creating a buzz in the city; Switch Coffee; and Ao, where mixology meets Oriental medicine. Boundaries between reception, coffee lounge, wine bar, and restaurant will be aimai or ambiguous.
Poised between old and new, K5 is at the connecting point between the traditional Imperial Palace and Marunouchi CBD area and the upcoming Eastern Tokyo, while also dissolving socio-economic boundaries thanks to rooms at varying price points.