1 Prelude to the Birth of Wayo-Secchu (Japanese Hybrid Style) in Japanese Early Modern Architecture Eiichi Tosaki In 1882 (Meiji 15), under an Imperial order which declared that a new architectural method be implemented based on the traditional Kyoto Imperial Palace, 1 the first plan for a completely Western style Imperial palace (Meiji Kyuden ) was scrapped. The rejected design was that of Josiah Conder (1852-1920), a government-invited teacher at Kobu (later Tokyo) Imperial University. Conder had obtained high honours as an English architect, having been awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects’ prestigious Soane Medallion in 1876. This rejection was, therefore, problematic. It marked the first signal of opposition by the Japanese Government to the authority of Western architecture: problematic in that this rejection occurred against the background of an otherwise strong and positive current towards Westernization, reinforced by the then Government’s iconoclastic stance towards Japanese traditionalism. That the planned Imperial Palace — supposedly a symbol of the modernization and growing power of Japan — was seen as an opportunity to demonstrate to Western representatives in Japan the high degree of Japanese ability and expertise, was a plan that seems to have gone awry. The reason the Japanese Government gave for its rejection was the high cost of the project, but in retrospect, this seems unlikely, especially in the context of its commitment to Westernization. This is an instance where political motivation to catch up with the West produced a fission between ornamental Westernization and Japanese everyday lifestyle. This paper will investigate the background of the emergence of Wayo-secchu, by re-examining the rhetoric of the government-oriented early Meiji Western style architecture and Japanese traditionalism’s reaction to it. I will elucidate the undercurrent of the intentional shift in nineteenth-century Japan towards the recuperation of traditional Japanese style, a shift which initiated the Japanese hybrid style we now call Wayo-secchu. I will discuss the effect of institutional pressure to Westernize, by investigating what was meant by a new architectural method as expressed by the government of the time. The Meiji Government’s Westernization (Ohka-shugi) was a response to unfair treaties imposed by the West and to fear of colonization, and manifested as an exerted effort to demonstrate the power of the Japanese nation. Western science and rationalism was seen as a necessary path to weather the rise of Euro- American military-industrial power. Modernization was an urgent project, and there could be no recourse to traditional ways. The force of the Japanese wave of