This sleek structure houses research facilities, a library, and an extensive computer system. Its banks of tinted green glass windows in green metal frames contrast with the brilliant white of the reinforced-concrete facade. Built by the government of Japan, the facility supports the activities of the Subaru telescope, one of the largest optical telescopes in the world. Its primary mirror is the largest piece of optical glass on the earth. “Subaru” is the Japanese name for the Pleiades.

Kikuji Ishimoto (1894–1963), founder of the Tokyo-based architectural firm Ishimoto Architects and Engineers, was the first Japanese architect to study (1922–1923) at the Bauhaus with Walter Gropius. He returned to Japan to contribute to the development of modern architecture in that nation.