{"id":23128,"date":"2023-11-20T14:56:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T05:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=23128"},"modified":"2023-11-20T14:56:16","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T05:56:16","slug":"20231120-23128","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Fantasy VII: Real-life counterpart of\u00a0The Shinra Building faces demolition\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Final Fantasy VII<\/strong> fans are set to lose an important but little known aspect of game history next year with the demolition of Tokyo\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.social-apartment.com\/builds\/tokyo\/shinjuku-ku\/view\/35\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GUNKAN Higashi Shinjuku Building<\/a> &#8211; designed by a famed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlasobscura.com\/places\/gunkan-higashi-shinjuku\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cMad Architect\u201d<\/a> and a key inspiration behind the game\u2019s setting. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The classic RPG Final Fantasy VII follows ecological terrorist group Avalanche as they try to prevent the energy conglomerate Shinra from draining the planet\u2019s life source. The industrial landscape of Midgar, which dominates the first half the story, is key to setting up this struggle. The game\u2019s themes of oppression and ecological destruction would have less impact if it wasn\u2019t for design aspects such as Midgar\u2019s metal plate (which separates the slums from the wealthy districts) and the shadowy tangles of pipes that make up the imposing mako reactors that leach energy out of the planet. Embodying the threat that protagonist Cloud Strife and party face is the towering structure of the Shinra building, symbolizing the destructive power of the corrupt energy corporation that rules the planet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NaoraYusuke\/status\/1725327754324021386?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a post<\/a> by Yusuke Naora, art director for the original Final Fantasy VII, the architecture of Tokyo\u2019s GUNKAN apartment building inspired the bleak industrial design of Midgar and the Shinra HQ. Final Fantasy developer Square Enix\u2019 head office is located near GUNKAN but with the game company set to <a href=\"https:\/\/dq10.news\/49183\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">relocate to Shibuya soon<\/a>, Naora plans to pay the building that inspired him a final visit. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">FF7\u3001\u30df\u30c3\u30c9\u30ac\u30eb\u3084\u795e\u7f85\u30d3\u30eb\u306e\u30e2\u30c1\u30fc\u30d5\u306b\u3057\u305f\u6771\u65b0\u5bbf\u306e\u8ecd\u8266\u30de\u30f3\u30b7\u30e7\u30f3\u304c\u3068\u3046\u3068\u3046\u2026<br>\u8fd1\u304f\u306e\u30b9\u30af\u30a8\u30cb\u672c\u793e\u3082\u5f15\u3063\u8d8a\u3059\u3057\u3001\u8fd1\u3005\u898b\u7d0d\u3081\u306b\u884c\u304f\u304b\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dM3dJ7J6dC\">https:\/\/t.co\/dM3dJ7J6dC<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u76f4\u826f\u6709\u7950 naora yusuke (@NaoraYusuke) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NaoraYusuke\/status\/1725327754324021386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 17, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Built in 1970 under the moniker 3rd Sky Building, GUNKAN was designed to resemble a battleship with its boxy units fanning out from the mast-like central column. The apartment complex juts out from between the surrounding buildings in the bustling Okubo area of Tokyo\u2019s Shinjuku ward like a ship cutting through waves.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The brains behind GUNKAN, Yoji Watanabe. was dubbed \u2018The Mad Architect\u2019 for his unconventional naval-inspired building designs. Another of his creations is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yomiuri.co.jp\/national\/20230616-OYT1T50268\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u2018Slanted House\u2019 (Naname no Ie)<\/a> in Niigata Prefecture; designed for his younger sister and her husband, it is a two-storey residence resembling a submarine and has no stairs (a ramp allows you to travel between floors).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"434\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23131\" style=\"width:1068px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-001.jpg 650w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-001-600x401.jpg 600w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-001-380x254.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-001-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-001-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-001-629x420.jpg 629w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">GUNKAN&#8217;s roof. The cylindrical structures on the &#8216;mast&#8217; are actually water tanks (Image Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.social-apartment.com\/builds\/tokyo\/shinjuku-ku\/view\/35\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Social Apartment<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, GUNKAN\u2019s unusual appearance has attracted a cult following in Japan. After undergoing renovations in 2011, its reopening as office units and shared apartments attracted many visitors. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/isamu_WJ\/status\/1724696702907822094?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Posters on X<\/a> recall that the chance to explore the whole building from top to bottom, and to look out of the small square windows, left a lasting impression on them. The ship deck-like roof in particular seems to have resonated with many people, some of whom posted photos and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AzumaShoji\/status\/1724700345954345061?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fanart<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FFVII fans have until sometime in 2024 to view this piece of game history in person or can\u00a0 settle for exploring it via <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/5WZcyNksIlI?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Youtube<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Designed by a famed &#8216;Mad Architect&#8217;, Tokyo&#8217;s imposing GUNKAN building inspired Yusuke Naora&#8217;s designs for Final Fantasy VII&#8217;s Midgar and the Shinra HQ, but the building now faces demolition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":23130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[36,17],"class_list":["post-23128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-final-fantasy","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Final Fantasy VII: Real-life counterpart of\u00a0The Shinra Building faces demolition\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Designed by a famed &#039;Mad Architect&#039;, Tokyo&#039;s imposing GUNKAN building inspired Yusuke Naora&#039;s designs for Final Fantasy VII&#039;s Midgar and the Shinra HQ, but the building now faces demolition.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Final Fantasy VII: Real-life counterpart of\u00a0The Shinra Building faces demolition\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Designed by a famed &#039;Mad Architect&#039;, Tokyo&#039;s imposing GUNKAN building inspired Yusuke Naora&#039;s designs for Final Fantasy VII&#039;s Midgar and the Shinra HQ, but the building now faces demolition.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-20T05:56:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-20T05:56:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"895\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Verity Townsend\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Verity Townsend\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Final Fantasy VII: Real-life counterpart of\u00a0The Shinra Building faces demolition\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","description":"Designed by a famed 'Mad Architect', Tokyo's imposing GUNKAN building inspired Yusuke Naora's designs for Final Fantasy VII's Midgar and the Shinra HQ, but the building now faces demolition.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Final Fantasy VII: Real-life counterpart of\u00a0The Shinra Building faces demolition\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","og_description":"Designed by a famed 'Mad Architect', Tokyo's imposing GUNKAN building inspired Yusuke Naora's designs for Final Fantasy VII's Midgar and the Shinra HQ, but the building now faces demolition.","og_url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/","og_site_name":"AUTOMATON WEST","article_published_time":"2023-11-20T05:56:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-20T05:56:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1380,"height":895,"url":"http:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-header.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Verity Townsend","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_site":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Verity Townsend","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/"},"author":{"name":"Verity Townsend","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d093b34094aa444f3b5cf8d2af3a6bad"},"headline":"Final Fantasy VII: Real-life counterpart of\u00a0The Shinra Building faces demolition\u00a0","datePublished":"2023-11-20T05:56:15+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-20T05:56:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/"},"wordCount":500,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-header.jpg","keywords":["Final Fantasy","News (Japan-related)"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/","name":"Final Fantasy VII: Real-life counterpart of\u00a0The Shinra Building faces demolition\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-header.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-20T05:56:15+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-20T05:56:16+00:00","description":"Designed by a famed 'Mad Architect', Tokyo's imposing GUNKAN building inspired Yusuke Naora's designs for Final Fantasy VII's Midgar and the Shinra HQ, but the building now faces demolition.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-header.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231120-23128-header.jpg","width":1380,"height":895},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20231120-23128\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u30db\u30fc\u30e0","item":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Final Fantasy VII: Real-life counterpart of\u00a0The Shinra Building faces demolition\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","name":"AUTOMATON WEST","description":"AUTOMATON is a website that covers the Japanese gaming world. We bring you the news on video games from Osaka and Tokyo.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization","name":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","width":374,"height":190,"caption":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/AUTOMATON_ENG","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCabvYnvuUUbbGUrxkaFRgSA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d093b34094aa444f3b5cf8d2af3a6bad","name":"Verity Townsend","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pz-WVnDc_400x400-100x100.jpg","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pz-WVnDc_400x400-100x100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pz-WVnDc_400x400-100x100.jpg","caption":"Verity Townsend"},"description":"Automaton West Editor and translator. She has a soft spot for old-school Sierra adventure games and Final Fantasy VIII (yes, 8!). Can often be found hunting down weird forgotten games and finding out everything about them. Frequently muses about characters and lines from Metal Gear Solid and Disco Elysium. Aims to keep Automaton fresh and interesting with a wide variety of articles.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/verity-townsend\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23128"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23139,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23128\/revisions\/23139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}