11/03/2026
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東京駅丸の内駅舎の屋根には天然スレートが葺かれています。天然スレートとは玄昌石（げんしょうせき）という石の一種で、習字のすずりなどに使われる素材です。創建当時、駅舎には32万枚もの雄勝産（現宮城県石巻市雄勝町）の天然スレートが使用されていました。その後、戦災復興を含む数回にわたる葺替えでは、一時登米産・陸前高田産が使われていた時期があります。
保存・復原工事では、登米産の状態の良いものは再利用されました。一枚一枚洗浄し、目視と打音によって劣化状態を確認しながら選別。形状を整え、足りない分は創建時と同じ雄勝産天然スレートの新材を手配しました。
そうして2012年、雄勝産、登米産、スペイン産の約43万枚のスレートが、創建当時と同じ一文字葺きという手法で、職人の手によって葺かれ、重厚に黒く光る駅舎の屋根が完成しました。
次投稿につづく・・
The roof of Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building, where the hotel is located, is covered with natural slate. Natural slate is a type of stone known as genshoseki, the same material traditionally used for Japanese calligraphy inkstones.
When the station first opened, about 320,000 pieces of natural slate from Ogatsu (Ishinomaki, Miyagi) were used on the roof. In later years, including during postwar reconstruction, slate from Tome and Rikuzentakata was also used in subsequent reroofing.
During the preservation and restoration project, new slate from Ogatsu—the same source used at the time of the station’s construction—was selected, while well-preserved slate from Tome was carefully reused. Each piece was washed and inspected individually through visual checks and tapping tests to assess its condition. Pieces of different shapes were then adjusted to recreate the original ichimonji-buki roofing pattern.
And so in 2012, approximately 430,000 slate tiles from Ogatsu, Tome, and Spain were laid by skilled craftsmen using the same Ichimonji-buki technique as when the building was first constructed, completing the station building’s roof with its deep, lustrous black finish.
To be continued in the next post…
**ホテルの公式ホームページはこちら⇒ https://www.tokyostationhotel.jp/
#311 #東日本大震災を忘れない
