The Japanese word "oku" is difficult to translate.
In a purely spatial sense it means "inside," but there is also something sacred or spiritual that "inside" alone doesn't capture. Oku is a place where the true spirit of Japan resides.

This residence is your oku.
Your path from busy Roppongi Avenue takes you past the mature 20-year old cherry trees that line Spain-zaka. The noise of the city fades away.

Ties between this residence and Le Corbusier run deep.
His paintings hang in the lobby where you can sit on the LC2 sofas he designed. You relax in what feels like a private museum dedicated to his work.

Here, indeed, is the vertical garden city of the future he described in his masterpiece Maniére de penser l'ubanisme. Built as part of Tokyo's first major urban redevelopment project, these residences embody to the full the sun, greenery, and space Le Corbusier envisioned.

It is, however, the seven gardens that make this residence truly unique. Cherry blossoms in the spring, roses in May, hydrangeas blooming as summer approaches, autumn chrysanthemums.
In winter the leaves have fallen, revealing trunks and branches.
The natural colors, the feel of the leaves, the sound of walking on fallen leaves, the scent of grass. Nature at its best, in the heart of Tokyo, between Akasaka and Roppongi.

Many residences take pride in their views of the city center.
This residence takes pride in the landscape that surrounds it.

Another unexpected pleasure. From the first floor lobbies, enter the ARK HILLS SPA.
Enjoy the total relaxation of swimming alone in the center lane of the three-lane pool.
Hear the lifeguard proudly say, "The quality of the water is excellent.
Our equipment is first-rate." A fine example of the care that permeates life at ARK Towers.

For twenty years this residence has stood here.
The details are a bit different from those in our newer residences.
But here there's the kind of atmosphere you enjoy in a 5-star hotel where decades or centuries have passed. There's a richness like the one you find in a demiglace sauce whose secrets are carefully guarded.
"To become a classic, that's our aim," says the manager.

400 households, 400 special needs for service. No task is too small.
“The people make this place No. 1 for me.”

Morning. The leaves are bathed in bright light. The foreign businessman who lives here strides briskly off to work with his newspaper tucked under his arm.

Inside the residence, however, time slows down. You stroll across ARK Karajan Plaza to your favorite cafe. If it's Wednesday, the farmer's market is open, with produce freshly picked in Ibaraki Prefecture.

Evening, 10 p.m. The global economy churns on in the office towers next door, but here the night is already quiet. If you haven't had dinner, there are fine restaurants still open in the hotels just in front of you. The friendly nightshift doorman greets you as you step out for a moonlit stroll.

ARK Towers
MORI LIVING
Where it all began.

Welcome to another MORI LIVING day.

Great night. Been out for a stroll?
Some residents jog to the Imperial Palace.
It's so quiet around here that I sometimes forget that we are in the center of Tokyo.
The tunnel behind us is called the Atago Zuido and runs directly beneath Mt. Atago.
With the mountain and the tunnel, it feels more like a place to escape than the heart of the city.
There is even a temple here, Seishoji, between the residence and office towers.

Oota Dokan, who built Edo Castle, established the temple in 1476, more than 500 years ago.
The Zen meditation sessions held there are very popular with our foreign residents.
Getting the temple to cooperate with redeveloping a site this historic wasn't easy. But the former chief monk and Mori Building came together to make this “Buddhist paradise in Atago” happen.

Have you used the spa on the top floor?
It's a wonderful feeling taking a swim while looking down on Tokyo Bay and the center of Tokyo. Our Health Consultation Center is located on the next floor down. There you can get a check-up from a veteran doctor, and the bilingual nurses are on duty 24 hours a day.
Hurt yourself? You're in good hands. The doctor always says, "Prevention is the best cure," but if you need medical help, it is only an elevator ride away.

People from nearly 20 countries live here. When there are fireworks, everyone goes to the top floor. Even the non-Japanese wear yukata. They also like to visit the shrine's lantern-flower market, help carry the omikoshi (portable shrine), and get into the Japanese seasonal spirit that only Atago offers.

Ensuring the happiness of our residents' families is our most important job.
I will never forget the day when one German couple had to go back to Germany.
As they saw the familiar faces of the front desk staff for the last time, the wife burst into terms. We all cried, too. People who check out of hotels never cry, but we had been home to them, so many experiences, so many stories.

For example, someone who had just arrived from New York moved in today. After being in the air for more than fourteen hours and then having to get here from Narita Airport, no one is in a mood to deal with additional formalities. In cases like these, we just show them to their apartments, explain how the showers work, and bid them good night. We tell them that the paperwork can be dealt with the next day. At my home, if a guest arrives all the way from New York, the first things he wants are a hot shower and a bed. That's how we see it.

Oh, I do run on.
Will you have an early start tomorrow?
Should I arrange a taxi?

I work the night shift, so I am here most nights.
So don't hesitate to ask if there is anything else you need.
If you can't sleep, I am always here to chat.

Good night.

Atago Green Hills Forest Tower
History. People. Peace of mind. Real elegance.

Welcome to another MORI LIVING day.

Do you know about Kitaoji Rosanjin? A native of Kyoto, he was a Meiji Era painter, potter, chef, and calligrapher. He founded the Gourmet Club and opened its Japanese-style restaurant in Hoshigaoka
(Star Hill) on Sanno Ridge in Akasaka, a spot famous since the Edo Period as a place of exceptional
beauty, ideal for stargazing.

At night, if you stand beside the Imperial Palace and look toward Akasaka, you may notice the glass tower, soaring like a lighthouse behind Hoshigaoka.
That is the Prudential Tower. Only a select few know about the residences on its upper floors.

To live in the sky is a privilege enjoyed by few in a modern city.
From their apartments, Prudential Tower residents look down on Tokyo through floor-to-ceiling windows. The city is at their feet.

There is the circle of forest surrounding the Hie Shrine. To its left are the Imperial Palace gardens. You can almost reach out and touch the Prime Minister's Residence and the National Diet Building.
To the west, Mt. Fuji seems very close. The sunset views are spectacular in apartments that face in this direction.

Line down on the carpet and look out the window and all you can see is sky and clouds. But you're living in Akasaka.

The main entrance is small and intimate, just right for residents and members of the 24-hour front desk staff to get to know each other Someone who works at the front desk says that she will never forget the first baby born here.

The American parents announced the birth to the staff, just as if they were family.
A little later, the staff received a handmade calendar with pictures of the smiling newborn. It still hangs in a prominent place in the staff room.

Prudential Tower residents live high in the sky, but their friendships put down deep roots. The entrance lounge is the venue for frequent parties for residents. The Music Salon, one of MORI LIVING's most popular events, was first organized here.

Including serviced apartments, there are 120 residences. The front desk staff know who lives in each and every one. Special services include helping wives plan April Fool jokes on their husbands.

Two-thirds of the residents are non-Japanese.
Some say they fell in love with the view.
Others mention the easy access to six subway lines.
A woman who moved from Eastern Australia, where there are no earthquakes, said that at first she was worried. Now she's experienced one and "felt no more vibration than someone next door turning on a washing machine."
Top-class earthquake resistance is another important privilege of living in these residences.

Step out of the entrance.
At the foot of the tower is Prudential Plaza, public space on a scale rarely seen in Tokyo. The café is from London, the pizzeria from Naples.
The Japanese soba noodle shop has a unique menu.
The branch of a major international bank is on the corner.
For whatever you need, no place could be more convenient.
To immerse yourself in Akasaka night life, just cross the street.

Night.
Next door to Hoshigaoka, The Prudential Tower waits for you to come home.
To enjoy its pleasures to the full, first, place your bed beside the window.
Then turn off the light.

One delighted resident tells us that he sometimes sees meteors flash across the sky "right here, in the middle of Tokyo."

The Prudential Tower Residences Nagatacho 2-chome, Chiyoda Ward.
As close to the stars as life in Tokyo gets.

Welcome to another MORI LIVING day.

Camphor. Crape Myrtle. Magnolia. Aphananthe. Zelkova. Tall Stewartia.
In the spring, cherry trees. In the fall, the fiery maples are brilliant.
All these trees are found on Four Seasons Hill.

In the center of the hill, there is one gigantic tree.
Its massive trunk soars above the greenery that surrounds it.
It resembles the cedar of Lebanon called the tree of the gods.
But this hill is not deep in Japan's mountains.
Nor is it in a valley in Lebanon.
It is only a few minutes walk from the shops of Azabujuban.

People flock to this tree. Many live here with their families.
There are always children in the spacious main lobby.
The people who work at the front desk like children and know them by name. Some children come to them for help with their homework. One needed to read the electric meter. The front desk staff contacted the people in charge and asked that they open the panel covering the meters once each evening so that she could check them.

Late October each year, the tree is busy preparing for Halloween.
There are so many embassies and non-Japanese families living in the neighborhood that Halloween has become a familiar holiday. Every year children in Halloween costumes come to the jack-o'-lantern-decorated front desk, where candy is waiting for trick-or-treaters.

One woman tells us that she is impressed by the doorman, who might have been her doorman back in New York. Also, she likes the security.
She has a small daughter and, while Japan is supposed to be safe, recent news has her worried. That is why she chose the tree. Not just the fully equipped security system, the fact that the staff know the children and know their names.

A woman who moved here from London says that the tree has everything she loved about the suburbs. The greenery, the flowers, people walking their dogs, the sounds of children playing. But the subways, the international market, a market that stays open 24 hours a day are all within walking distance. Beside the entrance is a modern spa, with a pool and golf driving range. The contrast is fascinating.

This tree is called Motorazabu Hills, a residence in tune with the greenery that surrounds it. Building higher allowed us to leave the open space around it and to fill that space with plants. With laurel and rosemary in the planters on every balcony, the whole structure is bathed in green. Even the emergency heliport on top is planted with alpine sedum. Now more than five years after its construction, this giant tree keeps growing, in harmony with the trees growing around it and the voices of the children who live here.

When you were a child, you probably climbed a tree.
Climbing this tree is easy. Just take the elevator.
At the top of the tree is a tranquil lounge for residents.
Beautiful swan chairs by Jacobsen await you.
No need to worry about perching on branches or soiling your clothes.
The exhilirating feeling you get when you gaze into the distance?
That hasn't changed.

Motoazabu Hills.
Today, under that huge tree.

Welcome to another MORI LIVING day.

April. Monday. 7:00 a.m.
My daily routine, I jog up Sakurazaka street.
My husband is at the ROPPONGI HILLS SPA, located below our home.
He will swim, then enjoy a sauna. After he showers, he will take the elevator home, change and go to work. His office is in Mori Tower, just across Roppongi's Keyakizaka-dori.
It's so close that he can fill his favorite coffee mug and take it with him.

May. Saturday. 3:00 p.m.
My friend M drops by. She steps out on the balcony and finds a fossil ammonite embedded in the outer wall. The wall is made of limestone, and contains many fossils. Not what you'd expect in a skyscraper facade, but it gives this place a warm, friendly feeling. The world-famous British designer, Sir Terence Conran, insisted on it.

June. Sunday. 10:00 a.m.
Another brown envelope has appeared in our mailbox.
It's another invitation to a MORI LIVING event at which we get to know the other residents.
What will it be this time? A fashion show? A music salon?
Neighbors from all over the world meet at these events.
Sometimes lifelong friendships are formed.

July. Friday. 1:00 p.m.
An old friend has come to Japan with her husband.
We booked a guest room on the 43rd floor of the tower next door for them.
That is the same floor where the residents-only Sky Lounge is located.

What I really love is being able to see all the way to Yokohama.
My friend is a good cook. I should get her to cook something in the Sky Lounge kitchen.
Dinner on the second day? Traditional Edomae sushi, Qing Dynasty imperial palace Chinese cuisine, L'atelier de Joël Robuchon's exquisite casual French. Which of the almost 100 restaurants will we choose? Let's talk it over with the expert at the front desk. She's sure to have a good suggestion.

August. Sunday. 6:00 a.m.
The summer festival is about to begin. There will be people who lived here before Roppongi Hills was built, people like us from other countries, people who work or play here, all having a good time together. Dancing, singing, having a blast. Here is where one of our neighbors encountered the practice of Tai Chi for the first time. Now she feels the energy flowing. "Roppongi Hills inspires me," she says.

September. Tuesday. 7:00 p.m.
Today I went with my son, who is going to kindergarten, to harvest the rice growing on top of the cinema complex. Who could have imagined it, rice growing above a cinema screen?

November. Sunday. 5:00 p.m.
We take a walk up Keyakizaka to enjoy the fall colors.
My husband murmurs, "This place has its own power plant."
The latest measures to ensure earthquake resistance, an emergency power plant, storerooms filled with emergency supplies. Here I can flee into my building instead of running away from it.

December. Thursday. 8:00 p.m.
We are in a Christmas mood mere. The illumination along Keyakaizaka-dori is gorgeous. I get a lift every time I look at them.

I live in Roppongi Hills. Everything I've written here, every day for a whole year, is something I have experienced no more than a few hundred meters from where I live.
It's like the whole neighborhood is our dining room, our living room, our closet.
Not even the world's most famous super model has a closet like this.

The whole neighborhood is my home. There's a whole world just outside my door, filled with things you can find nowhere else. Ideas, proposals, opportunities, everything that makes life in the city so fascinating. But just inside my door there is carefully guarded, absolute privacy.

Roppongi Hills Residences
What will you enjoy today? Who will you meet today?

Welcome to another MORI LIVING day.