Josiah Conder (architect) in the context of "Byzantine Revival architecture"

The Rokumeikan (鹿鳴館; Japanese pronunciation: [ɾo.kɯ.meꜜi.kaɴ, -meꜜː-]) was a large two-story building in Tokyo, completed in 1883, which became a controversial symbol of Westernisation in the Meiji period. Commissioned for the housing of foreign guests by the Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru, it was designed by British architect Josiah Conder, a prominent Western adviser working in Japan.

Although the Rokumeikan's heyday was brief, it became famous for its parties and balls, which introduced many high-ranking Japanese to Western manners for the first time, and it is still a fixture in the cultural memory of Japan. It was, however, largely used for the accommodation of guests of the government, and for meetings between Japanese who had already lived abroad.

Katayama Tōkuma (片山 東熊; 18 January 1854 – 24 October 1917) was a Japanese architect who designed the original buildings for the Imperial Nara Museum as well as the Kyoto Imperial Museum and was significant in introducing Western, particularly French architecture into Japan.

Coming from Chōshū, Tōkuma was a protégé of Yamagata Aritomo. In 1879 he graduated from the Imperial College of Engineering. During his late twenties and early thirties he assisted Josiah Conder in designing and building a Western-style residence for Prince Arisugawa Taruhito and then on the new Imperial Palace in Tokyo. During the 1880 he was sent to Europe and America to study interior decoration, including furniture. In 1887 he was appointed as an officer in the construction office of the Imperial Household.