When it was built in 1972, it was the capital’s only example of the metabolism architectural movement – but time has caught up with the structure

It is an architectural curiosity that attracts admirers from around the world, an asymmetric stack of identical concrete boxes in a neighbourhood dominated by the gleaming glass edifices of corporate Japan.

But after occupying a corner of Tokyo’s Ginza district for almost half a century, the Nakagin Capsule Tower faces an uncertain future.

Stacks of asymmetric concrete cubes make up the Nakagin Capsule Tower exterior in Tokyo, Japan.